Children of the Flame
by Sky Fable
Summary: The Magic Council, with help from Fairy Tail, was able to successfully capture and contain the demon E.N.D. That, however did not come without a price... The Black Mage Zeref still roams Earthland, and with a new threat in the demon copies commonly known as Dragnites, the old generation of Fairy Tail might need some help. From who you ask? Why, from their kids of course!
1. Olivia: Part 1

**Hello followers and fans of Fairy Tail! This is Sky Fable, bringing to you his first Fairy Tail fanfiction! **

**This is a story with a plot I literally thought up over the course of two days, so you'll have to forgive me if it seems choppy or rushed. For those who will ask, I have decided that this fic will take place roughly twenty years after the E.N.D. conflict is resolved. Obviously, we don't know how that happens yet so my conclusion is completely made up and if it does happen that way it will be entirely by coincidence. **

**Also, if you are not caught up on the manga some of the topics might confuse you. **

**If you couldn't tell by the summary, this is a story where the main characters will be the children of my personal ships (Gruvia, Nalu, Jerza, Miraxus, Elfever, and some others). If that doesn't appeal to you, then this fic is not for you. **

**And now... to address my followers... I'm sorry guys. You all may think that _Destined_ is a lost cause, but fear not! I am an extremely fickle writer, but my resolution is absolute! That story will be completed, and it will not be rushed in any way! **

**Well I think that's enough of my ramblings. Without further ado! I present to you:**

**The Disclaimer!: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. All credit goes to Hiro Mashima. I only own this story and the original characters that appear within it. **

**Okay seriously though, here's the chapter. Enjoy!**

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_**Children of the Flame**_

**Olivia: Part 1**

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A storm was coming. She could feel it. Not one of those metaphorical, 'I actually mean an event that could change everything we know' storms, but an honest-to-Mavis, thunder and lightning, raining like crazy storm. Other people would be disheartened, and prolong their missions. Olivia Dreyar, on the other hand, was not one to let something so trivial stop her from taking a job. She took the first mission she could get her hands on and headed out as soon as the sky had darkened with ominous clouds. She had been itching for a challenge for some time, though not particularly in the mood for an S-Class mission. _'That's not entirely true.' _She mused. _'I made a promise to those two idiots.' _

Her long time teammate, Simon Scarlet, had convinced Olivia's brother, Zuma, to accompany the two on their next S-Class mission. It was a hell of a feat, considering her brother couldn't use magic and was completely uninterested in violence altogether. _'It's not that he can't.' _She corrected _'He just doesn't even try...'_ Even so, the usually cold, uptight Simon had adamantly pushed for her white-haired brother to tag along. And once that ruby-haired teen put his mind to something, it was completed perfectly. A trait of his mother's, her father had told her.

Both herself and Simon were currently on their own solo missions, and Zuma was back at the guild, more likely than not helping their mother with the constant flow of business from old guild members who still like to hang around the guild hall and reminisce on the old times. The _'Glory Days' _they say. Olivia laughed at that phrase every time it was spoken. She didn't really care for what had happened with the guild in the past. It was knowledge she had grown up with. Stories that, yes at one point she had found fascinating, but was now ready to rewrite with a new legacy in the name of Fairy Tail.

Her current job was simple enough. A small dark guild had been causing trouble in Hargeon, so she was headed there to put them in their place. The job description's only recommended criterion was a team of four to be sent, but since it wasn't on the S-Class mission board, she would be more than capable of dispatching of the guild alone.

Olivia had only just left the Magnolia by the time it started to rain. She loved it, and it continued to pour for the hours it took for her to walk to Hargeon. Showing no signs of slowing, she silently walked into the town. It didn't take long for her to locate the arrogant guild members. They were almost louder than the storm, so the blonde teen didn't need heightened senses to know they were drinking at the local tavern and terrorizing the people within.

She pushed open the swinging doors and entered the tavern. The sound died down almost immediately as a crash of thunder shook the whole room.

"Ehhh, what do we have here?" A tall, well built man with black hair tied into a bun said as he chugged the beer in his hand.

"Hey hey hey! Bosshh, thish one'sh a beaut!" Another man of almost identical build, but with shaggy, brown colored hair spoke in a drunken slur.

There were whistles and cat calls coming from the other men seated at the bar and around the various tables. Olivia paid no attention to the lecherous men, only glanced around the bar to find the townspeople huddled together in a corner of the tavern. They stared at her with pleading eyes.

Olivia sighed. "You lot belong to the dark guild terrorizing this town?"

"That's right, babe!" A very tall man, taller than the first, rose from his previous position on the floor. He had light pink hair that was spiked in all directions. His fists were wrapped in red cloth that matched the open vest he wore. He was the most, for lack of a better word, impressive man in the bar, so Olivia assumed that he was the guild master. "Have those idiots with the council finally had enough of Phoenix Rising!?" At the pounding of his bare chest, the men around him cheered and hollered, following suit.

"Phoenix Rising?" Olivia's eyes went wide with worry. "Then that must mean you're-"

"Ding ding ding! Looks like super boobs here is well informed!" The intoxicated guild master only laughed harder at the dark scowl that the teenage girl donned. "The flying flare himself, Scorch Dragneel, at your service." The guild master said with a toothed grin and an exaggerated bow. His sarcastic expression transformed into one of pure disgust. "And by your scent, I'd say you're a damn Fairy Tail wizard."

The blonde teen grit her teeth. _'Damn!'_ She thought to herself. _'The job description had nothing about a Dragnite anywhere!' _Olivia cursed at her luck. A wimpy dark guild was nothing. To be honest, she could probably take on the whole guild without using her magic. If _he _wasn't there.

"How the hell did you escape prison?" Olivia demanded.

She could feel her heart rate pick up speed, and her brow become damp. _'This is crazy. I'm not going to be able to beat him by myself.' _The thought, however painful, was true. She was powerful. Very powerful. She was Guild Master Laxus Dreyar's daughter, and that title came with every bit of badass as it implied. From a very young age, she was taught to use magic, and very quickly got the hang of it. Because of this and her father's constant pushing for her to train day in and day out, she had plenty of time to hone her magical prowess and fine tune it to maximize her own destructive potential. Nevertheless, the Dragnites were directly related to the demon E.N.D. which meant their magic was indirectly related to the Black Mage Zeref. One alone could hold its own against any one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints.

Olivia was shaken from her thoughts by heavy laughter. "Hah! That place is so crowded I could have walked out in broad daylight, and not a single guard would notice!" The fire demon laughed for some time before his expression became dark and serious, much more befitting of a demon. "There are many more of us than the Magic Council would let anyone believe. They may have father locked away in maximum security, but Zeref is still out there. Whether you want to believe it or not. Father is the only one capable of killing Zeref, and thanks to the great minds of the Magic Council, the black mage walks Earthland still."

Olivia almost swayed beneath the fiery eyes of the demon before her. Throughout his speech, some other members of Phoenix Rising passed out from their obscene alcohol consumption. She stood strong and reached into the inner pocket of the fur-lined jacket that draped over her shoulders. Wrapping her fingers around the communication lacrima nestled safely within the pocket, she infused it with magic of an urgent nature, and relaxed when she felt the familiar, comforting surge of magic energy telling her that Simon had received her distress call.

She was scared. Scared of the demon before her, and scared of the knowledge that the Magic Council had but a handful out of an unknown amount of these abominations. Thankfully, the emotions raging within the teen did not reach her cool and collected surface.

"That doesn't matter." She said. Her magical energy cracked and whipped about her body, in tune with the storm raging outside. A confident smirk played across her features. "I didn't come here for information. I came here to beat you and your guild within an inch of your lives!"

An evil smile met her as Scorch began to laugh hysterically. "Oh, damn your sexy!" In an instant he was grabbing Olivia's face, and looking into her blue eyes with his own red ones. "Let's see if you can back those words up until your boyfriend gets here."

"Roar..." Olivia muttered quietly, and regretted it when the demon leaned in so close she could feel his breath on her chin.

"What was that, babe? I know you can be louder than that." A lecherous smirk fueled the girl's rage.

"Roar of the Lightning Dragon!" She punctuated the spell's name with a surge of magic energy. She opened her mouth wide and unleashed a blast of electric magic at the surprised demon.

The demon took the full force of her breath attack, and was sent barreling through the wooden walls of the tavern. Olivia wanted to be proud. With any other mage, landing a blow of such nature would most certainly incapacitate them. But this was a Dragnite. She would not let up even a little. She couldn't afford to, not if she wanted to walk away with her life.

Once again, hysterical laughter filled her ears. "Oh my god, she's a Dreyar!" The demon nimbly leaped from the debris and dashed towards Olivia. She only just managed to raise her hands to block the powerful, fire-coated fist of the demon. Even so, the power behind such a blow sent her skidding back many yards. "So your Laxus' girl?"

Olivia answered with a hard stare, unwilling to satisfy the demon's questions.

"Aww, the silent treatment?" Scorch whined and pouted like a child. "Tell you what, if you can survive the beating I'm about to dish out to you, you'll answer all my questions!"

"That's some pretty twisted logic you have there." Olivia was seething. If there was one thing she hated it was arrogance, and being treated like a child. This guy was both arrogant, and treating her like a child, so Olivia was surprised when she spoke the words instead of screaming them.

"Well of course it is!" Once again, Scorch's speed took her by surprise as she felt the heat that radiated off of his body. An expression that Olivia could only describe as pure evil darkened his features. "I am a demon after all."

The heat grew to unimaginable levels when Scorch's fists were once more engulfed by hot flames. Fueled by fear, and realizing that strategy was not going to work on the erratic demon, Olivia let instinct take over and she felt a rush of magic energy. Letting electricity course through her veins, she, quite literally, bolted away from the explosion caused by those flaming fists connecting with the ground she should have been standing on.

"You just keep getting hotter and hotter, you know that?" Olivia could see the demon walking through the lingering flames of the recent explosion.

She did not speak. She honestly didn't think words would pass through the lump in her throat. Scorch dashed towards her once again, and, once again, her electrified legs carried her to safety from the demon's explosive blows. This game of cat-and-mouse continued for some time. At some point during the chase, they ended up outside where the storm had reached its most violent point. Powerful winds threatened to blow away her fur-lined jacket, so she fit her slender arms through the sleeves. Rain drenched the two opponents, and, seeing the perverted glint in the demon's eyes, Olivia unconsciously tightened the jacket around herself.

"Why do you keep running?" Scorch asked disappointed. "You're nothing like your father. He would have-"

Before he could finish his thought, Olivia closed the distance between them quick as lightning and aimed an electricity infused roundhouse towards the demon's pink head. Her offensive attempt was hastily blocked, but the expression on Scorch's face was no longer that of arrogance. Their eyes met. Olivia's were dark and brimming with anger. His looked as if they would pop from excitement.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" He exclaimed, giddily before being sent sliding through mud and dirt down Hargeon's main road. Just as before, he seemed un-phased by the powerful attack and hopped to his feet. "Did I strike a chord with daddy?"

Still, Olivia did not entertain his curiosity, and instead rushed towards him again and answered with an electrified fist aimed for his jaw. A blinding flash of lightning covered her advance and she met surprised eyes with her own hard stare. The crack of bone underneath her fist, and the pained howl being sent further away by the second were both canceled out by the deafening crash of thunder that echoed across the sky.

The lightning dragon slayer was breathing almost as hard as the rain was falling. She came off her adrenaline high and finally felt the toll her enormous use of magic energy was going to take on her body. Satisfied but exhausted, she turned to find the towns person who issued the job request and give them a proper tongue-lashing. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a familiar and terrifying cloth covered hand gripped her throat and lifted her off of the ground.

Scorch's jaw was slack, unable to close from the damage her punch had dealt, and blood poured down the wound staining the wet ground. He tried to speak, but all she heard was furious sounding grunts and growls. His eyes were ablaze with the same fury and a hint of triumph. A fiery punch to the gut singed her jacket, all the way through to her stomach. She would have crashed through many buildings if a certain demon hadn't instantly placed himself in her flight path only to send her crashing into the ground with interlocked, flaming fists. Consciousness was slipping from Olivia's grasp. The pain in her stomach was unbearable. In just those two attacks, it felt like Scorch had broken every bone in her body, and burned her insides black. She couldn't hold out much longer, and she only had her own complacency to blame.

_'Dammit.' _She thought, tears filling her eyes. _'I don't want to die here. Not when... Not when I haven't told...' _Silent drops of despair fell down her muddied cheeks. Pain exploded in her skull as she was hoisted from the ground by her ponytail. She was at eye level with Scorch, and saw what she knew was utter joy at seeing her broken and beaten. An awful, disembodied laughter assaulted her eardrums. Scorch was once again trying to speak, but to no avail. His anger towards the futility flared about him in an aura of oppressive flames. The heat grew in temperature and intensity causing the tears Olivia had running down her face to evaporate as soon as they fell. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the oblivion that awaited her. If they didn't dry up as soon as they left her eyes, she was sure tears would be falling from her face at an uncontrollable rate.

_'Simon... Zuma... Mother... Father...' _She thought of everyone else at the guild and all the friends she had made during missions and other events. Friends from other guilds and even other countries. She thought of the young man she had grown to love and the brother she had loved and admired her entire life. _'Simon... Zuma... Everyone... I'm sorry.' _

She squeezed her already closed eyes as tight as she could with what little energy she had left. She had expected an extreme heat to envelop her body, to char her skin and melt her insides. She didn't know if it would hurt, or if she would even feel it before she inevitably died. She expected pain, but there was none. What she didn't expect was being splattered with a warm, sticky liquid. The heat died down almost immediately, and the pain from being held off the ground by her hair disappeared, leaving in its wake a major headache. She crumpled to the mud, landing on her back. It was silent for a moment before the sound of cracking earth jarred her senses. Still gripped by fear, Olivia dared not open her eyes. Again there was a pause, and then a massive clap of thunder, and the familiar charred air of electric magic dominated her senses. Once the thunder had rumbled away, the only sound she could hear was the constant drum of rain. She felt strong arms pick her up, bridal style, and begin to carry her through the downpour.

Slowly opening a tired eye she caught sight of the serious face and crimson hair of Simon Scarlet. Tears once again filled her eyes, and she forced a weak smile. "Simon..." she said, almost too quiet to hear.

"Shh." He commanded in a soothing voice. Not meeting her eyes, he continued to order her around. "Don't speak. Your life isn't in danger, but its a long way until we get to Magnolia. Rest now, Olivia."

"I'm sorry." Olivia wept and buried her face into the requip mage's chest, the smile gone away as she remembered the pain she was just put through.

"Olivia." Simon's voice was kind and quiet on sensitive ears. "There's no need to cry, everything will be okay."

The tears halted at the sight of his gentle grin. Olivia met it with a weak one of her own. "Okay." she said and fell into sleep's dark embrace.

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**A/N: **

**And so it begins... I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and would like to take this time to thank you for reading. As always, leave thoughts, comments, concerns, theories, fan-art, small Alaskan children and their husky companion in the reviews!**

**Until next time,**

**Sky Fable**

**P.S. I would jump for joy if you would take the time to skooch on over to tumblr [**** blog/sky-fable****] and give this story a thumbs up and a reblog! I am seriously lacking in the follower department, and I will be posting chapters there before here thanks to my handy-dandy smartphone. You don't have to if you don't want to, but it would make me feel fuzzy in my body.**


	2. Simon: Part 1

**Hello once again readers Sky Fable here bring you of my Fairy Tail next gen: Children of the Flame! **

**This chapter is an alternate POV of the last, but it kinda progresses the story... a bit... kinda...**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and the new character I debut! **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. All credit goes to Hiro Mashima, although I'd really like the rights to Laxus for my birthday. What? I only own the original characters that appear within this story.**

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_**Children of the Flame**_

**Simon: Part 1**

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Simon Scarlet trudged along in the direction of Magnolia, armor clattering with each step. His mission completed, and his reward collected, he was more than ready to plop down, face first, into his comfortable bed. No one would ever be able to tell from observing his actions, but Simon valued sleep very much. Considering the amount of it he actually got, every second was treasured just as a starving cat treasures its fish.

Simon spent most of his days training and keeping the peace around the Guild. That task was handed down to him from his mother, Titania Erza Scarlet, one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints. Her long missions usually kept her away from the guild for weeks, sometimes months on end. He had been told by many of his fellow guild members that he had inherited her 'make others submit to her will with a glare' attitude, and he used that to his advantage. No one in the guild doubted his strength, which was probably why Mirajane Strauss was surprised at the ease of the mission he had 'selected.'

He didn't want to take a job. It was going to rain and rain hard. Simon didn't like being wet. It just didn't appeal to him. Nevertheless, here he was, drenched to the bone, dragging his exhausted feet along a muddied path towards home. The job he had taken took longer than anticipated, and he missed the last train for Magnolia. Knowing that Kunugi Town wasn't too far away, he swallowed his hatred of rain and made his way west.

_'I'll have you washing the rust off of my armor for weeks when you get back.' _He thought bitterly at the reason for him taking a job in the rain. Olivia Dreyar, unlike himself, loved the rain. Or, more accurately, loved storms, and that's exactly what Simon found himself in an hour into his mission. It was one of the more embarrassing jobs he had taken, posing in his underwear to promote a new clothing store that had just opened wasn't exactly his idea of a mission. But the excited dragon slayer had grabbed two jobs off of the mission board as soon as the blue sky turned gray with rainclouds.

Sighing, Simon laughed to himself. Honestly, he was glad she hadn't looked at the jobs before taking them. Surely she would have insisted on taking this one on the grounds that Simon was too talented or too uptight to properly pull off a modeling gig. He was pleased to find that many an onlooker, male and female alike, found his form to be pleasing and endearing, and he was able to draw a great many townspeople before the sky opened its water filled clouds.

He wondered how she was handling her job. Knowing Olivia, she had accepted the 'rough-em-up' job that she usually went with, and was having the time of her life instilling pure, unadulterated fear into the poor, unfortunate soul unlucky enough to have her to deal with. Thinking more about the awful things Olivia would most likely do to the poor man or woman, he allowed his mind to drift onto other subjects as he walked. One of the things he thought about, and actually looked forward to was the upcoming S-Class mission she had promised him. Though his features would never show it, he had been very excited and touched when she proposed they go on a mission together. It had been longer than Simon cared to remember since the two had been the team they formed as children, and even longer since their last S-Class mission. Simon was especially excited about this one, because Zuma Dreyar was going to tag along. Though the silver haired bar-tender couldn't use magic, he was quick and strong without it, and could hold his own against any monster or even mage without magic entirely. His lack of magical prowess pushed his desire to help the guild. During his younger years, he still took jobs and completed them with flying colors, even though they rarely involved fighting.

Sadly enough, he was left out of last year's S-Class Mage test on Tenrou Island. When Simon fought for his friend's right to join him as an S-Class mage, Master Laxus was indifferent and did not let up in his decision in the least. It wasn't until Olivia had passed the test and became an full-fledged S-Class mage that he learned that Zuma himself had asked not to be chosen for the exams.

Though he wasn't an S-Class mage, Simon once again pushed and pushed the guild master to allow his son to accompany him and Olivia on their next S-Class mission. Once the dragon slayer relented, Simon had to convince Zuma to attend. With his natural aversion towards violence, it took Simon a much longer time to convince his white-haired friend than it did the grumpy guild master. Nevertheless, his tenacity bared fruit, and in three days time, the trio would set off for their mission.

So lost was Simon in his thoughts, that he almost walked straight through Kunugi Town. The once tiny train station had blossomed into a bustling town with shops, living areas and even a town hall. The red-haired male stopped at the local inn to change out of his rusting armor. Knowing the contents of his bag helped when he didn't feel up for digging through the messily packed clothes. Usually Simon was a very neat person. Everything was as it should be and there was no disorder among his belongings or the people he watched over. His bag's current status was a testament to his exhaustion. _'Who knew modeling took so much out of you?' _He thought to himself.

Activating his magic, there was a brilliant flash of light, and suddenly he was in dry clothes. Well, dry armor. Much like his mother, Simon rarely wore casual clothing, and preferred the thick, full-body metal of a suit of armor. Complete with cuirass, tunic, and a hooded cloak to shield his scarlet hair and exposed skin. With a satisfied nod, the requip mage made his way back out into the rain. This time however, he was prepared. Hood up, he made his way through the lit streets to search for transportation.

Just as he feared, many of the carriage owners would rather not make the journey with such a violent storm about. Simon suspected as much and returned to the inn to wait out the storm. He had just reached the doors when the small lacrima in his pocket began to glow red as the hair on his head.

_'What the hell?' _Fear and worry gripped his chest, but he immediately infused the small stone with calm, reassuring energy. _'There's no way I can reach her in time! Unless...' _Seeing no other viable option, Simon breathed deeply and steeled his resolve.

Wasting no time, Simon turned and assumed a specific pose. He fell to one knee and pounded a fist into the ground. Resting his free arm on his raised knee, he closed his eyes. Reaching into the depths of his magic reserves, he mustered forth all available strength he could. "Combination." He said quietly, and his body began to emit a light much more brilliant than that he had created earlier. "Requip Secret Art," The rays of light condensed until his silhouette was a radiant gold, "Paladin of the Seven Stars!" Coming from seemingly nowhere, gold, glittering armor covered Simon's body from head to toe. It was sleek, but powerful, and etched with scarlet lettering of an unknown language. Rising from his position, he traced the distress call back to its location.

_'Hargeon?' _Simon thought confused. Refusing to dwell on the topic, and unable to sustain the heavenly armor for much longer, he faced in the direction of the small town. "Meteor!" He shouted and virtually disappeared from where he had been standing. He cut through the air at blinding speed. In no time, he could see the glow of Magnolia's city lights and he passed over the whole town in less than a second. Hargeon was in his sights only seconds later. Suddenly his requip faded, and sent him crashing, quite painfully into the ground almost a mile outside of the town. Cursing at his inability to hold his combination for more than thirty seconds, the nearly broken requip mage caught his breath and rose on his shaky legs. Willing his body to move, he broke into an unsteady sprint.

Within a few minutes he reached the town's entrance and wildly looked for his blonde-haired friend. Seeing no sign of the she-dragon, he made his way to a boisterous tavern. Upon entry his stomach hit the floor. Half of the occupants shot hard glares towards him, while the other half lay unconscious on the ground, drunk out of their minds. There was a large hole in the back of the tavern that went through many walls and led to the downpour outside, only increasing his fear.

Their glares turned into expressions of terror when he dropped his hood, revealing his blood red hair. From the look of the group as a whole, Simon reasoned that they were not from Hargeon. "Who are you people?" He asked commandingly.

"H-h-hey!" One man stuttered, visibly shaking. "Aren't you T-T-Titania's kid?"

At his question, uneasy chatter spread around the room. "He has the same hair." One man observed.

"He probably dyed it!" A tall man with a very messy, black bun yelled seemingly unafraid. "The wannabe little kid reads too much Sorcerer Weekly!" Slamming an empty mug down onto the bar among dozens of similar mugs, he stood and turned to face Simon. "Have no fear, mates! Second-in-command of Phoenix Rising, Jarvo, will teach this punk a lesson!"

Simon's eyes widened. "Phoenix Rising?" He asked. "The dark guild?"

Jarvo laughed "What's wrong, little Titania wannab-"

Scraping the literal bottom of his magical barrel, Simon summoned a massive battle spear and leaped towards the tall man faster than the eye could see. His hand covered the black-haired man's mouth, who was knocked to the ground as a result of the collision, and the blade of his spear pressed lightly into Jarvo's neck. Rage gave him strength, but somehow he managed to not plunge the elongated weapon repeatedly into the trash he now held to the ground.

Wearing his mother's trademarked death stare, Simon spoke to the incapacitated mage. "When I remove my hand, you are going to tell me exactly where your master is. If I deem your response useless in any way, this spear right here is going to sink into the floorboard as if it was made of butter. Since your throat is between there and my blade, I suggest you tell me what I want to know. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Once Simon was satisfied with the amount of fear in his enemy's eyes, he removed his hand and allowed Jarvo to speak. "L-l-last I saw him he was fighting some blonde from F-F-Fairy T-Tail." Simon's spear pressed deeper, breaking skin and causing tears to form in the large man's eyes. "They both were out of here real quick, I heard them fighting by the town hall, that's all I know I swear! Please don't kill me!"

"You're sure she was a Fairy Tail mage?" Simon asked. The other members of the Dark Guild all stared in silence at the commotion with sweat dampening their brows.

"Yeah! Scorch said she s-smelled like one and his nose is never wrong!" Simon could barely understand the scum between his sputtering and crying for his life.

Lifting himself from the dark mage. Simon turned to leave. An audible sigh of relief rippled through the entire tavern. Jarvo didn't move from his position on the floor and began to laugh with relief. _'Time for a little emphasis.' _Simon thought with a smirk.

He stopped at the doors causing every member of the dark guild to hold their breath. Turning quickly, Simon sent his spear soaring through the air, heading directly for the grounded body of Jarvo. Many of the guild members looked away or gasped in horror when the blade hit its target with a sickening _Thunk! _

No one moved. No one even breathed. The only sound in the tavern was the light thud of Simon's boots on the wooden floor as he approached the unharmed, but thoroughly traumatized Jarvo.

Squatting next to the dark mage, he stared hard into his glazed over, gray eyes. "Can you hear me, second-in-command, Jarvo?" Simon spoke the name in a disgusted, mocking tone.

Without meeting his gaze, Jarvo nodded slowly.

"Excellent." Simon wore a dark grin. "I'm going to kill your guild master. The bounty on his head is quite high, and I intend to take it. I have no quarrel with the rest of you, but if I return and you all haven't left Hargeon and disbanded your puny dark guild, next time," The red-haired requip mage ripped his spear from where it was embedded only inches from Jarvo's head, "I won't miss."

He turned and started walking towards the doors. Glancing to his right, he noticed a number of Hargeon natives staring at him fearfully. Having witnessed a darker side of his personality, he didn't blame them, but he walked over and, even when they flinched and shied away, he smiled warmly. "Come on now." He said. Gesturing to the semi-conscious members of Phoenix Rising, he continued. "They won't bother you anymore, but it's still not safe here. You all should head back to your homes before the storm gets any worse."

"Y-y-you aren't one of them?" Asked an older woman, protectively clutching two small boys. Their expressions were not fearful, but the two regarded him with wide, sparkling eyes.

"Me? One of them? Of course not!" He activated his magic, much to his own strain, and dispelled the polished cuirass to expose his toned abs and gold Fairy Tail guild mark. It started at the lower left portion of his abdomen and wrapped around to end on his back. Surrounding it was his unusual birth mark. His mother had told him that his father had the exact same one, only surrounding his right eye. When Simon was old enough to become a Fairy Tail wizard, he thought what better place to put his guild mark?

"Fairy Tail!" The two boys shouted excitedly.

"Oh! Oh thank you!" The look of relief on the woman's face brought a warm feeling to Simon's chest.

An extremely loud explosion ripped that warm feeling away. Instead replaced by the icy claws of fear. Without sparing the family or the dark guild a second glance, he requipped his breastplate, tightened the grip he had on his spear and dashed out of the tavern. Once outside, Simon whipped his head about to try and pinpoint the direction of the explosion. Another, larger blast directed him towards the town hall, just as Jarvo said.

He dashed down a path of destroyed buildings. _'I suppose I didn't really need a sound cue.' _The mage thought as he hopped over fragmented wood and fallen support beams. Thankfully the houses appeared empty.

When he turned the corner towards the town hall, the same rage he felt before welled within Simon's gut. The girl he had known since she took her first breath of Earthland air, was bloody and burned. Her limp body was being held by a hand, aggressively clenched at the base of her long, golden hair.

Simon could have sworn a vein had burst in his brain when he saw the pink-haired demon summon his evil magic. It manifested as a compact ball of flame right in the middle of his gaping maw.

"Olivia!" He yelled as, for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day, he found magic power where there was none. Requipping into his powerful _Susano'o _water armor, and calling forth his giant greatsword _Thunderclap_, time seemed to slow and he was behind the demon spawn instantly. Without uttering a noise, with pure hatred for the monster holding his beloved teammate, he plunged the massive, two-handed sword into the back of Scorch Dragneel. He kept pushing far enough so the large, ebony blade impaled the dark guild master, and stopped just short of Olivia's nose. Simon noticed the small movement of his head as Scorch looked down at the blade protruding from his chest. Turning his head so he could view his attacker, Scorch's eyes were filled with frenzied hatred directed towards the red headed mage that met his fury with a rage of his own. The demon made a strange gurgling sound, causing even more crimson liquid to pour from the demon's already injured jaw. Simon lifted the giant blade and twirled it in his grasp. He brought the tip of _Thunderclap _crashing down into the earth. Scorch was definitely dead, but the fury-fueled adrenaline high would not let his body stop. His veins sizzled and cracked with magic power. Raising his free hand to the black clouds above, he called forth a massive bolt of lightning that split the sky from whence it came. There was an explosion of electricity and a deafening crash of thunder as the storm powered attack vaporized the broken demon. A pile of ash slowly disappeared, fading with the rain and mud. Simon felt calm once more, and turned to the lightning dragon slayer.

He felt his requip fade and he returned to his usual garb, only this time, his magic was so spent that he couldn't bring himself to summon his bronze cuirass. Clad only in his armored tunic and boots, he focused on Olivia. Worry was the only thing keeping adrenaline in his veins, and ultimately allowing him to even move. He knelt by the blonde-haired dragon slayer and studied her body for injuries. As far as he could see, burns, scrapes, and bruises were the only obvious ones. That, and extreme exhaustion. Knowing that the best care would be found back at the guild, he reasoned that it would be best to take her there for a full examination.

He lifted her off of the wet ground and began to head for the tavern. Though the dragon slayer in his arms needed medical assistance, her wounds were not life-threatening and he would be damned if he didn't keep his promise.

"Simon..." A weak voice caught his attention. Knowing she was looking at him with both relieved tears and a weak smile, he did not avert his gaze from the path in front of him.

"Shh." He told her gently. "Don't speak. Your life isn't in danger, but it's a long way until we get to Magnolia. Rest now, Olivia."

There was silence for a couple seconds. Simon felt her gaze leave him. "I'm sorry." She said and buried her face into his bare chest, though she didn't seem to notice. Through the icy cold of the water that clung to his body, he could feel his friend's hot tears as they fell freely down her cheeks.

"Olivia." Simon tried to coax her attention towards him. He had looked down at her, and hoped that she could feel his gentle expression and warm smile. "There's no need to cry, everything will be okay."

Much to his delight, when her blue eyes met his brown ones, the tears streaming down her muddied and swollen face stopped almost instantaneously. "Okay." She matched his smile with another one of her own and pressed herself closer into his body. She was asleep almost immediately after she closed her eyes.

Carrying an unconscious dragon slayer, Simon continued to make his way to the tavern. When he poked his head in he was pleased to see it was empty except for a large, bearded man cursing at everything around him, tables and walls included.

He stopped speaking when he spotted the red-haired teen. "Sorry, I don't think it needs to be said, but we're closed for renovations."

Simon pushed through the swinging doors, careful to avoid hitting the girl he held with them. "Actually, I was just going to ask if you could spare any medical supplies."

Seeing the beaten girl in Simon's arms, the man's expression changed to one of realization before regaining his agitated countenance. "Hmph." He snorted. "Lemme see what we got in the back. Or what's left of it." The tavern owner disappeared behind a destroyed wall.

Laying Olivia down on a long table, he took the time to remove her large fur-lined jacket. She wore a purple, sleeveless, low-cut blouse and tight, dark-colored jeans. Feeling his cheeks heat at the sight of her fully clothed, Simon decided that he would only treat the wounds he could see.

_'You're hopeless...' _Simon thought to himself, well, hopelessly.

"Here." The voice of the tavern owner drew his attention. He tossed Simon a roll of medical tape, and a jar of some disinfectant liquid. "It's not much, but it'll do until you get her to a hospital."

"Right. Thank you, sir." With a grunt, the man resumed his cursing and his inspection.

It didn't take long for Simon to clean and wrap up any visible injuries, though he did break his own, self-imposed rule, when he lifted her blouse to get at the nasty burn on her stomach, which was still very much flat and toned much to Simon's despair. _'This is for her well-being. I'm not enjoying this, and I'm not embarrassed.' _He repeated the phrase over and over until his job was complete.

Retrieving her in his arms, he set out of the tavern, and silently thanked Mavis when only a few rogue drops of rain hit him on his way out of town.

* * *

**Well?! I don't now about you, but I ship it to the ends of the earth! In fact, I ship it so hard, I helicarrier it! Then again, it is my story, so I suppose that much is implied. Ah well. Write a review! and eagerly await the next chapter, where we'll take a quick step away from Fairy Tail. Like literally just that one chapter, and then we're back to where it matters!**

**Until Next Time, **

**Sky Fable**

**Edit: So, I was sitting in bed one night, and I was looking over my character design for Simon, and I really didn't like it at all. I changed a few things, like I shortened his hair and I made ure that he walks around in full armor just like mommy! If you don't follow me on my brand new blog on tumblr (ftnextgen) then do that! Or just try to imagine a kick ass gladiator type character with the sleeveless breastplate and the tunic (Man skirt). He's taller, buffer, and really fits the bill for Erza Scarlet's kid! I think so at least... lol **


	3. Jasper: Part 1

**Hello once again my loyal readers! Sky Fable back again with yet another installment on my next gen Fairy Tail fic. This chapter may confuse a lot of people, but keep in mind that the Fairy Tail manga was and is far from over at the time I was writing this. I am open to all questions should you have any, and please don't hate me for my ideas lol**

**This chapter makes me happy. Mostly because I actually drew the character highlighted in this chapter, but also because It was just a lot of fun to write.**

***SPOILER* There's a pretty gruesome scene at the end of the chapter, and I probably went complete overkill, but hey I think we all need a little bit of overkill every now and again.**

**Well, that's enough of me! Time to get to what you all came here to see!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. All credit goes to Hiro Mashima. I only own the lovely children of his lovely creations!**

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_**Children of the Flame**_

**Jasper: Part 1**

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"Cap'n! We won't make it t' port afore we hit that storm dead on! It be comin' t' fast!"

Jasper was not one of many emotions. His cold, unchanging stare was what won him that reputation, though he was usually feeling much different than his collected demeanor would ever lead one to believe. "Brace the ship and get the crew below deck. I'll make sure we stay on course."

"Ye don't really mean to-"

"That's an order, Damian." Jasper cut him off. His voice was smooth, but commanding and he felt the quarter master's expression of disbelief morph into one of reluctant acceptance. Jasper's deep blue eyes did not leave the ever angering waves of the ocean ahead of him.

The large bearded man scoffed, but complied with Jasper's orders. "Alright mateys, batten down th' hatches! On th' double ye scallywags or ye'll be swimmin' wit' th' fishes t'night!"

There was a bustle of commotion behind Jasper, but he did not turn to observe the happenings of his ship: _The Iced Shell_. Instead he focused on the deep rumble of thunder off in the distance.

_'You can do this, Jasper. Nice and easy, just like you trained.' _True to the contradiction that was Jasper Fullbuster, he felt his heart rate quicken, his stomach drop and a lump form in his throat. _'What if I screw up? I have the lives of the entire crew in my hands.' _

"The ship be prepared, cap'n. Any last orders?"

The break in his focus almost caused him to jump out of his skin. Thankfully, his collected reputation was not ruined, and he remained very much in tact. The same, however, could not be said for his buckled trench coat. Sighing and reaching out with a practiced hand only years of being around the navy-haired water mage could train, Damian snatched the coat out of the air almost as soon as it left Jasper's grasp. "Just get yourself below deck. We're in for a rough couple hours."

Damian folded the discarded jacket over his arm and turned to obey orders. "Don't work yerself to death. Th' crew needs its cap'n."

_'Understood.' _Jasper responded silently as he heard the man's steps fade into the growing wind. The storm was almost upon them now. Isolated drops of rain had begun to fall from the darkening sky. The wind made it impossible to hear anything but the breakers battering his ship's wooden hull.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Jasper felt his mind empty. He felt magic surge through his veins, and he felt his own body quiver at the sensation of mentally becoming one with the very ocean beneath him. He could not break concentration. Not now. Not with his crew putting the utmost faith in his mastery of water. He felt the power held within the roaring waves. Focusing on the pull and push of the violent currents, Jasper let his magic spread to the water around him. Tendrils of his magic energy whipped about his body as he bent the sea to his will. The storm was picking up in its intensity. The waves became more and more powerful, forcing the water mage to expend more and more of his rapidly depleting energy. Stinging rain threatened to break Jasper's concentration, but he would not fail his crew.

He was too prepared for it. He knew it was coming, but not when, and when it did, he broke. The thunder exploded in the sky directly above him. The bolt of lightning preceding it gave no warning as it lit up the world below. The water mage's eyes snapped open and, almost immediately, the ship was at the mercy of the relentless tide.

_'Shit!' _He cursed. _'I knew it! I knew I wasn't ready! Father I'm sorry, I won't ever be able to take over the guild. I'm trash! I'm-' _An exceptionally large wave rocked the boat hard, sending him skidding across the top of the forecastle and down onto the deck below. He landed hard, feeling the wooden planks crack, but not give, beneath his weight.

He didn't know why, but in that moment, his senses began to dull. A vision played itself across his disoriented eyesight.

_'Jasper. This is your first S-Class mission.' _His father had been more serious than Jasper had ever seen him when he gave that lecture. _'Take the _Iced Shell _to Galuna Island, complete the mission, and on your way back, you know what you have to do. Remember, she needs to be retrieved at any cost. _

_'And what about mother? Do you want me to tell her anything?' _If Jasper was excited about anything, it would be the chance to see his mother again. After she learned of Gray's plan to leave Fairy Tail and go back to Avatar, she was abhorred. He had heard stories and even seen himself how much she loved his father, but to return to the cult that caused her so much pain, that caused him to leave her, she simply could not follow him anymore. With two newborns, it would have been tremendously difficult to carry them safely through the Mikage Woods. Juvia had loved and still did love his father, even after he left the guild another time, but she now had a responsibility to her children and would not have them grow up in a world without Fairy Tail. Jasper was only six years old when he chose his father over Fairy Tail. The choice was easy for him. He had no deep connections with the guild like his mother and father, but he did often find that he missed his friends and his mother's overly enthusiastic hugs.

_'Just that my offer still stands. Make sure to give the twins my regards as well.' _The look on his father's face was pained. He was a great, kind man that protected his comrades with an intensity unlike anything Jasper has ever seen.

_'Yes father.' _Jasper bowed his head and turned to leave.

As he reached for the door that would lead him out of his father's private room, Gray spoke. _'Don't fail me, son.' _Jasper didn't know why, but those four words instilled within him a desire, a need to do just that.

_'Don't fail me, son.' _The phrase played itself over and over again until it became deafening to Jasper's ears. When he could no longer make out words, he could once again hear the roar of the ocean and the howling of the stormy winds. With new-found confidence, the water mage dashed to the very edge of the bow, just before the bowsprit.

_'I need to get closer!' _He thought.

Jasper desperately tried to regain control over the wild waters. Finding it much harder to coax the waves when they were angriest than when he was easing into their wrath, the teen launched himself off of the bow and plunged straight into the swarthy froth of the raging ocean. Once in the water, Jasper could feel his senses clear. _'That's better.' _He thought calmly. Using magic taught to him by his mother, the navy-haired mage allowed his body to dissolve into the brine. He positioned his discarnate body so it surrounded the entire ship. Magic radiated from the water molecules belonging to himself, and quickly transferred to neighboring water molecules. Soon, there was a large magic circle surrounding the _Iced Shell. _In control once again, Jasper regained his physical body and rode a long water spout onto his previous position atop the ship's forecastle.

Undeterred by the whipping rain that pelted his bare upper body, Jasper directed the current to take the ship towards the port town of Hargeon. Much to his chagrin, the storm did not let up one bit, but there were no more instances in which drastic measures were required. Hours passed. The sky became even darker with the sun setting somewhere behind the thick layer of storm clouds. Hargeon's city lights came into sight just as the wind died down, and the clouds had given all the rain they could hold. Now, only a few drops fell every now and again.

_'I did it...' _Jasper thought with an exhausted sigh.

"Well done, me boy!" Damian said with a slightly drunken laugh and a slap on the back.

Jasper grunted in acknowledgment, too spent to expend energy responding to the man.

A thoughtful expression crossed Damian's face. Though intoxicated, he could probably hold down more alcohol than anyone he had ever met. "Get some rest lad. Ye've earned it."

The water mage shook his head in disagreement. "Too much to do." He said plainly. Damian looked ready to argue, but Jasper spoke before he could. "Tell the crew to sober up and prepare the ship for dock."

Knowing that the stubborn water mage would never heed his advice, Damian loosed a sigh of defeat. "Aye, Cap'n." He said and went off once more to give Jasper's orders in a much more aggressive, pirate-like way.

The rain had finally stopped by the time the _Iced Shell _was able to dock at the Hargeon ports. Stepping onto the gangway, Jasper's body was raked by intense chills. "Damian!" He called for his right-hand.

"Aye!" Came the response from the large man from the upper deck.

"Come with me into the city. Leave Howell in charge for now."

"Aye, Cap'n!"

_'Of all places.' _Jasper thought in exasperation. _'Of all times!'_

"What be shiverin' yer timbers, boy?" The older mage fell in step beside Jasper as he made his way into the town.

"Scorch." He said plainly.

Damian groaned angrily. "Wha's that grog-snarfin' gut ache doin' out o' th' brig?"

"Beats me." Jasper said cooly. "But we're about to find out."

They walked along the streets of Hargeon. People were just starting to venture from their homes as the sun finally penetrated the once black sky. A particularly large group of people was gathered by the town hall. They were huddled in a circle, observing something at its center. Upon approaching, Jasper and Damian noticed an large crack in a patch of extremely dry, charred earth. The air was dry, suggesting that a type of heat magic, or high energy magic, was used. Jasper didn't bother pushing through the crowd, but did notice a trail of ash headed in the direction of Hargeon's East exit.

"Ash." Damian noticed it too. "That means he-"

"Died." Jasper finished. "Go back to the ship and help with resupply, I'll handle things from here."

"Now don' go gettin' a big head, boy." Damian was always acting more like a babysitter than a ship captain's right-hand, but Jasper had learned to ignore it fairly soon after they had met.

"Scorch Jr. is the least of my worries." Without another word, Jasper followed the trail of ash. Damian sighed as he so often did with the young captain, but returned to the ship to assist in resupply for their next mission involving the crossing of a sea.

The trail grew smaller and smaller until there were only a few flakes of the black powder every few feet. Jasper realized that he was not going to find the demon on foot. Letting his magic surge, he allowed the molecules that made up his body to separate and spread apart until he was a superheated cloud of water vapor. Jasper the steam cloud traveled quickly through the woods between Hargeon and Magnolia. He fanned out his gaseous body and continued to search. It wasn't long after that when he found the shrunken demon. Appearing no older than ten years old, the pink-haired spawn stopped and sniffed the air.

"Well I'll be damned." He said with a smile, looking at his surroundings and trying to pinpoint his location. "Jasper Fullbuster. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Calling his molecules back together, his body took solid form a short distance away form Scorch. "I suppose it has." He said.

"Yup, you're still stoic and uninteresting as ever." His child-like voice amused Jasper to no end. So much that he actually cracked a smile.

"Looks like you died again." The water mage said condescendingly.

Scorch scoffed in obvious disgust. "It was a cheap shot." He said pouting. "I was just about to burn that sexy Dreyar babe into a crisp, that Scarlet asshole comes out of nowhere in this rain armor, and sticks his thunder sword right through me!"

"Whoa there demon, didn't know rolled that way." Jasper said, cracking a proud smile at his witty remark.

Scorch began to laugh. Being a child made everything in the world much funnier than it actually was, but the fire demon laughed and laughed until he had to clutch his stomach and force himself to breathe. "In all the years we've known each other, you have never cracked a joke! It was totally shitty, but coming from you? Genius material right there!"

Letting the smile fade, Jasper figured it was time to get to business. "Well, I figured I'd give you that once in a lifetime opportunity."

"I know what's coming Fullbuster. You don't have to beat around the bush." His pink hair danced to the winds of a light breeze that chilled the air around them.

"I did some research." Jasper said as the temperature continued to drop.

"It appears you have. How lucky for me to be reincarnated, AND THEN run into my favorite arch mage!" The smile never left his face. There were no signs of fear or regret written on his expression or in his eyes.

Anyone else would have felt awful. Torn between what has to be done and personal feelings. Now usually, Jasper was an emotional wreck, but now, standing face-to-face with the demon that always was. He felt joy. He felt that this moment would lift a great weight from his shoulders, and free him from a burden that had been at his heels since the day he met Scorch Dragneel, four years ago.

"You're not going to fight back?" Jasper's expression never changed. He stared into the red eyes of the phoenix mage and saw nothing. He was calmly waiting for the water mage to make his move.

The temperature had dropped so low that the leaves on the trees had hardened. Their breaths became visible, and the water falling from the trees had frozen and formed tiny icicles hanging above their heads.

"Why bother?" He asked. "With my magic power now, I might be able to beat you. You know, if you cut off your arms and legs for me, but as you are? We both know how that ends."

"I wasn't planning on running into you again for a while." Jasper commanded the ice that now surrounded them to anchor the demon where he stood.

"Neither was I." He raised his hand and pointed his first two fingers towards the Dragnite.

"Its a shame." Jasper was truly saddened that this meeting happened the way it did.

"Isn't it? I expected our last fight to be one of the most epic showdowns in the history of Fiore! But this..." The navy-haired teen focused on the water that made up most of the demon's body weight.

"You could call this cold-blooded murder." Once he could feel every molecule of water in Scorch's body, he directed his focus towards the water-rich blood in the fire mage's neck.

"It is how it is." He said matter-of-factly. "I'm a demon. You're a mage. Think of it as your good deed of the day."

"Goodbye, Scorch."

"See ya, Jasper." With that, Jasper expanded the water molecules in Scorch's neck. There was an icy _'crack,' _a roll and a thud, and the circular blade of red-tinted water sat perfectly on top of the demon's small shoulders.

Jasper didn't spare the gruesome scene another glance. He turned and swiftly headed back for Hargeon. He was sure that, by the time he got back, most of the crew would have already gone home having completed an S-Class mission, but his job was not over. There was still that girl.

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**Ah yes. The Gruvia child. I absolutely adore Jasper, and his magic, and everything about him! **

**Well, thoughts?! If you liked it, leave a favorite and a follow to see more!**

**Again, if you have any questions regarding how Gray became a guild master and why the H E Double Hockey Sticks it's AVATAR of all things, feel free to ask.**

**Again, again, the most recent chapters had not come out at the time of Jasper's conception (ew) so I had no idea ***SPOILER*** Gray was undercover ***END SPOILER*****

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**

**See ya next time!**

**Sky Fable**


	4. Alexa: Part 1

**Hello my wonderful readers! Sky Fable here, back in action and bringing you more of your favorite Fairy Tail kiddies. In this chapter, we meet yet another new face, but also some old favorites. **

**Well, that's about all I have to say this time around. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. All credit goes to Hiro Mashima and his team of mangaka. I only own the children of those wonderful characters because they don't exist canon... *sigh*...**

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_**Children of the Flame**_

_**Alexa: Part 1**_

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"Stop shoving me idiot! You'll get your turn!"

"You'll take all the good jobs, then! So move it!"

"I'm only taking one! Do you have water in your ears?!"

"Is your brain frozen?!"

The incessant bickering of the Fullbuster twins rang through the guild hall. Normally, Alexa Dragneel would step in and either end the verbal conflict herself or take a side and lead the sibling she had sided with to victory, but she merely let them carry on.

The rain had started early that morning and had continued on throughout the day. The dark clouds and monsoon conditions brought down the usual excitement of the guild. Very few mages even came through the doors that day, and the hall was currently occupied by the guild's immediate residents. Master Laxus was talking with Mirajane while examining the complaints and damage reports of last month's missions. Zuma was there a second ago, but left for some reason.

Two jobs had been taken that morning when Alexa examined the mission board. Mirajane had told her that Simon and Olivia had left a long while ago and should be returning relatively soon. That had excited Alexa to some degree, because it had been a long while since she had challenged her fellow dragon slayer to a battle. She knew she would lose, Olivia had never lost a challenge from her or any of the mages she had ever met, but she wanted to feel the rush of friendly competition. If there was any person who would help her grow as a fighter, it was Olivia Dreyar.

Sighing in boredom, the female dragon slayer crossed her arms and rested her chin on the table she sat at.

_'Rain is stupid.' _She thought.

"What's up, squirt?" A large, rough hand placed itself on top of her head and ruffled her pink hair.

She didn't need divert her bored stare to know who was speaking. "Hello, Uncle Gajeel."

A large presence placed itself next to her. "Why so glum?" The iron dragon slayer asked thoughtfully.

"There's nothing to do!" She wailed. "No one wants to go anywhere or do anything, and the only people who do are already gone! I'm so bored Uncle, entertain me." Finally looking at him, she could see an amused glint in his red eyes.

"The rain's stopped. How about a little sparring until those two get back?"

"Really?" She asked excitedly. "Auntie won't mind?" Her aunt, Levy, had always been very overprotective and didn't like it when Gajeel 'sparred' with her. Usually because she ended up with bruises and scrapes along her entire body. She asked her uncle to go all out, and he pulled no punches.

A mischievous grin spread across her uncle's face. "She's resting in the infirmary with Juvia," he said, "What she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?"

"Alright! I'm fired up now, Uncle Gajeel! Let's go!" With that, the two dragon slayers dashed out of the guild. The sun was low in the sky, but shone through the quickly disappearing clouds.

They ran through the streets of Magnolia, fueled by excitement and pent up energy. They ran until they came to a clearing a short ways west of the town. This is where Gajeel had taught her how to use her magic. It was their sparring and training section of the forest. When Alexa came here it was only her and Gajeel. The day-to-day fears of Zeref and the dark guilds disappeared when she was here.

"C'mon squirt, show this old man what a dragon slayer can do!"

"Right!" Alexa nodded and then she dropped to her fighting stance. She began to slowly edge around her uncle, who stood tall with his arms crossed and a blank expression.

Igniting her fists, she raced towards the man with a powerful yell. She sent flaming punch after flaming punch towards every part of her uncle's body. He dodged them all with ease, which only succeeded in frustrating the girl.

"Calm down!" He instructed and sent her flying with a strong elbow to her gut. "If you don't focus then your moves become sloppy. You leave way too many openings."

"What's the point? I can't hit you!" This was a regular situation for Alexa. She would get angry that she couldn't land any of her hits, she would be scolded about focus and not losing your cool, then she would try, and fail, again.

"Because your too wound up!" Gajeel looked like he was having trouble containing his own temper. He took a deep breath and continued. "Study your enemy's movements. Act and react. There's no strategy to dragon slaying magic, but you need to keep a cool enough head to be able to control it. Don't think about anything and let your magic become an extension of your own body."

"Fine." Alexa crossed her arms and pouted, but relented and began to, well, stop thinking. Closing her eyes, she emptied her mind of unnecessary thoughts, and once again fell into a battle stance. Once again she rushed towards her uncle and began to throw a flurry of jabs and hooks. She didn't let up in her assault. The only break happened when she narrowly dodged a dangerously powerful Iron Dragon's Fist.

"Better." Gajeel said. He had allowed a smirk to creep onto his features.

Alexa's onslaught continued, never once lacking in ferocity. She was able to dodge most of Gajeels blows, and those she couldn't she blocked.

The iron dragon slayer bobbed and weaved through Alexa's fists and kicks. He hopped to avoid one of Alexa's sweeping kicks, but she was expecting that. With her arms, she shot her body into the air to meet Gajeel's jump. His eyes widened when she hit him hard in the chest with a strong kick powered by flames. He was sent flying back, through the air for several yards. His body disappeared into the brush surrounding the clearing. She landed with a proud smile that quickly disappeared when she heard grunts of pain and yells of surprise.

Alexa rushed to where the foliage was disturbed because of Gajeel's large form. Gajeel was on the ground. A pained expression twisted his features, but that wasn't why the pink-haired girl's eyes widened in horror. Underneath her uncle were the two mages who had left that morning.

"Simon? Olivia?"

Groans from all three members sounded out in a cacophony of agony.

"Nice one, Squirt." Her uncle said rubbing the singed clothing around his chest. "I actually felt that one."

"Yeah, way to go Dragneel." Said a very annoyed and haggard Simon Scarlet.

"Oh, the red head is back. And the master's daughter is too." Gajeel looked back at the two and gave them his signature grin. "How was the job?"

"I would tell you, but you're so damn heavy I can barely even breathe!"

"You callin' me fat?" Gajeel's face morphed into an offended frown.

"Move your ass!" Simon yelled. Alexa couldn't help but giggle at the whole situation.

"Tch," Her uncle scoffed, "Just because you're Titania's kid doesn't mean you can boss me around." Gajeel still did not budge. "I'm going to move now, but only because a bag of rocks is more comfortable than you."

He stood and regarded the mass of still-tangled limbs. Initial confusion became worry when the two conscious dragon slayers saw the condition of the third.

"Liv!" Alexa started to rush towards her but was stopped by an obviously exhausted Simon.

"She's fine. Just a little banged up." His expression did not match the reassurance he attempted to provide the younger teen.

"Here," the iron dragon hoisted the unconscious blonde as carefully as Gajeel could manage. "Squirt, you help this idiot get his legs." He turned and carried Olivia quickly back to the guild hall. "Fine my ass." He said quietly. The statement went unnoticed by Simon, but Alexa heard. She heard everything.

"Simon?" Alexa said worriedly, offering him a shaky hand.

He draped his arm over her shoulders and leaned against the pink-haired dragon slayer for support. Slowly, they hobbled in the direction of the guild hall. Simon remained silent.

"Simon, what happened?" The fear in Alexa's stomach only increased with each second the redhead was silent.

"I wasn't fast enough." He finally said.

"What?"

"She took him on alone, and I didn't get there in time to help her." His eyes were filled with pain. Both from his sheer exhaustion and from his heart.

"Simon, please." She was nearly begging. "Is she going to be okay?"

A voice from behind startled them both. "She'll be fine."

"Who's there?" Simon demanded, unable to quickly meet his attacker. Alexa was similarly affected because she was the only reason the requip mage wasn't crawling back to the guild. She cursed her emotions for clogging her scent.

"Scorch is strong, but hardly strong enough to kill a Fairy Tail Wizard." The voice remained hidden behind the backs of the immobile wizards.

Alexa's eyes widened as the wind shifted, allowing her to pick up the familiar scent of the salty sea. "Jasper..." She breathed, and instantly felt her body heat up tremendously.

"What?" Simon said, getting irritated. "Mavis, dammit all! Who the hell are you?"

Alexa remained silent, but Jasper laughed behind them. She felt a rush of hot air, then a strikingly cool breeze, and suddenly, the arch mage was before them. He was taller than Alexa remembered, and his exposed chest threatened to draw blood from her nose. She hated the way he affected her. She was a fiery-tempered rule breaker who also broke houses and bones as a side job. Yet, no matter how often or seldom she saw the water mage, he made her putty in his hands.

Simon laughed, relieved, and finally stepped completely over into the dream realm. Alexa was unprepared, and began to topple from the dead-weight that now fell completely against her. A strong arm wound tightly around her waist, and the weight of Simon's body disappeared.

"P-Put me down!" She yelled indignantly and squirmed from the mage's grasp.

Jasper laughed, but put up no fight. "As fiery as ever, I see."

"Shut up, snowman." Alexa cursed herself for what seemed like the nine hundredth time. Her cheeks were flushed and her entire body was on fire. If she didn't have control of her magic, she was afraid it actually might be.

"Hello to you too, Alexa." He said as she fell in step beside him. Simon was slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

They remained silent for some time. They cleared the trees and began to make their way through the streets of Magnolia Jasper silently asked Alexa to lead the way by slowing and allowing the she-dragon to walk in front of him.

"Why are you even here?" Alexa asked. So much was happening in such a small amount of time that she thought her head would just spin off.

Feeling her heart sink, but not by much, at the return of his monotonous tone, Alexa felt her cheeks cool. A little bit. "I'm actually here for you."

"Wh-What?!" The pink-haired teen visibly flinched. She fought and fought. She had never faced anything so difficult in her entire life. She fought to keep herself from bursting into flames of embarrassment at the water mage's unexpected answer.

"My father found something, and he wants me to bring you back to the guild to see it for yourself."

"O-Oh." Alexa said simply. Her heart slowed, but still fluttered. Her cheeks became more naturally colored, but were still as pink as her hair. "What did he find?"

"I don't know." Jasper said. "But I think it has something to do with your parents."

Alexa stopped in her tracks.

_'My parents?' _She thought. "Uncle and Auntie, you mean?" She asked, afraid to know the truth.

"Unfortunately no." He said. Again, the lack of emotion made it surprisingly easier to deal with the dreadful answer.

No other words were spoken as Alexa continued leading Jasper through Magnolia. Upon entering the guild, Alexa was surprised to see relative calmness. That meant that Jasper and Simon were right. Olivia was fine, and Wendy had confirmed it.

As soon as eyes fell on the Avatar mage, two pairs in particular, got closer and closer until their owners nearly tackled Jasper to the floor.

"Big brother!" River exclaimed, almost in tears.

"Jasper, lets fight! I wanna show you how much stronger I am!"

Simon was handed off to one of the men of Fairy Tail who headed straight for the infirmary.

Alexa watched the short family reunion with distant eyes. She wore a smile, but her mind was far away. Not even a hysterical Juvia, who came barreling through the hall and succeeded in tackling the teen to the ground, distracted her. She wandered then, eager to find something to get her mind off of Jasper's ominous words.

She found Wendy in the infirmary, naturally, maintaining a healing spell above Olivia's stomach. Shw was in deep focus, but the spell did not break when she looked up at Alexa.

Levy smiled and gave the teen a tired wave from her bed in the far corner. Her swollen belly making anything a difficult task, Gajeel insisted that she stay in bed. Alexa returned the smile, and the solid script mage returned to her sleeping state.

With a smile, Wendy spoke. "I'm assuming you want to know?"

Alexa nodded and worriedly looked at the pained face of her blonde role model. "Yes please."

"She'll be fine." the sky dragon slayer said. "Although she did take quite the beating. A few cracked ribs and some deep contusions, but nothing permanent. She should be back to action in a week or two!"

"Good." Alexa said after a sigh of relief. "And Simon?" She didn't care for Simon what she did for Olivia or... Jasper... but there was no doubt that the Scarlet teen deserved respect. He was one of the strongest mages in the whole guild, if not, then all of Fiore, and Alexa enjoyed his strict adherence to the rules. It made him trustworthy rather than uptight in her eyes.

"Simple exhaustion. A good night's rest and he'll be taking jobs by morning."

"That's a relief."

The bluenette nodded with a smile and returned her attention to the beaten blonde.

Alexa remained in the room. She stood just past the doorway and stared with a worried expression at her friends.

A familiarly harsh voice jostled her from her thoughts. "Hey, squirt!"

Putting on a casual expression, she raised her eyebrows in question at the iron dragon slayer.

"The master needs you in his office, now." He said, jogging up to stand before her. When he saw Wendy, his expression changed, though Alexa couldn't quite place the look. "How are they?" He asked.

"Simon will be in top shape by morning. Olivia, on the other hand, won't be able to go all out for a couple weeks at least."

"As good as it gets I suppose." Gajeel's face still held that strange look.

Wendy seemed to notice it too and giggled. "Levy is fine." She said. "She's awake now if you'd go and check on her for me."

"Right." He said, and Alexa could swear she saw the faintest of blushes color his dark cheeks. She knew that he was a big softy when it came to Levy, and the whole pregnancy thing had made him look even more like a human rather than a dragon, but seeing the loving expressions he wore when thinking about her were still strange to Alexa. "You. Master. Now."

"I'm going, alright?" Alexa said with a rebellious laugh. "What does he need?" She yelled.

Gajeel poked his head out of the door. "I don't know, but he and Jasper looked pretty glum."

Alexa groaned at having to be within a hundred feet of the water mage again. Although the butterflies in her stomach thought it was a good time to start fluttering about.

The walk to the other side of the guild hall, where the master's office was located, was painfully short. Painful in two ways, the most obvious being the fear that her heart would burst from beating so fast. The other was explained by the bruise that would definitely show up on her shoulder by being, in all sense of the phrase, run over by a soaking wet Zuma on his way to the infirmary.

The master's door was closed, but opened as Alexa began to knock. Her fist connected, not with wood, but with something much softer, but just as hard. For whatever reason, the fire-dragon slayer decided to open her closed hand at the last second. She didn't move, or breathe for what felt like an eternity. All she could even process was that her hand had gently landed, and was still resting, on a tall, dark-haired man's extremely toned abs.

"Alexa." he said with a small smile. The rarity in which anyone even saw emotion from Jasper, much less an actual smile made the she-dragon's heart thump wildly against her chest.

"Good, you're here." Came the strong voice of Laxus Dreyar. "Come in Alexa, there's something we need to talk about."

A report will be sent to Lamia Scale?"

"More of a warning, but yes. Everything of their most recent disruption will be detailed in the message." Laxus said.

Alexa hadn't even heard the two. Feeling dazed, even when Jasper stepped back to allow her to walk in, she did as she was told, and took a seat at one of the two cushioned chairs. Jasper occupied the other, and Laxus looked between the two of them.

"You two are getting along well." He said flatly. Nothing even hinted as to what he was implying.

"As we always have, master Laxus." Jasper said and shot the pink-haired teen another smile.

Her cheeks became as red as Simon's hair. She huffed and looked away from the two males.

Laughter from the blonde man drew the attention of both teens.

"What's so funny?!" Alexa asked feeling thoroughly embarrassed and offended that Laxus would subject her to such emotional torture.

"Forgive me, please. The irony is just too rich." He laughed for a while longer while the mages before him stared with confused expressions.

"Master Laxus, with all due respect, I don't have much time." Jasper said after clearing his throat.

"Yes, of course." He fixed Alexa with a serious look. "You are going to the Avatar guild with Jasper here. Gray Fullbuster, the guild master there, has some information on the whereabouts of your mother, as well as some belongings of your parents' that they would surely love to pass on to you."

"M-My parents...?" A strange feeling began to boil at the pit of Alexa's stomach. It was something she hadn't felt in a long time, and a feeling she only felt whenever the topic of her birth parents were brought up.

Hurt. Anger. Betrayal. Abandonment. So many negative emotions swirled within her until she was a melting pot of anger, sadness and everything that went along with it. She gulped down the lump in her throat and took a deep, shaky breath. "I don't care." She said.

Jasper's eyes widened and he was about to say something to dissuade the girl's irrational answer, but Laxus waved him off. "Alexa." He said, forcing her to look up to meet his gaze with her own tear-filled one. "Do you know your last name?"

"D-D-Dragneel."

"And do you know the man that had that last name before you?"

She shook her head, unable to find the words.

"That man is Fairy Tail's greatest hero. Your father was without equal, and Gray Fullbuster was his best friend."

The more she heard, the more the tears began to fall. She didn't care that her father was so great. She didn't. She didn't care... right?

"Do you know your mother's name?"

Alexa nodded, still unable to speak past the newly formed lump in her throat.

"While Natsu was number one in power, Lucy was number one in heart and spirit. She was the one mage that never gave up, no matter what. She fought for her friends, and destroyed the enemies that would threaten any one of them. She persevered through the worst and I know that she longs for the day when she can see what a fine young woman you've become."

Her crying was now audible. She couldn't take it. She wanted to meet them so badly. She wanted to know how they looked, what they'd say if they saw her now, what they would yell at her for, how they would discipline her, and even which one of them would train her in magic. She wanted to know everything about them, and hated them for disappearing. What if they were dead? How would she find her answers then? Every day she found things, jobs or training, to keep her mind off of them, but every night was filled with fantasies of her phantom parents. Gajeel and Levy had been the most wonderful people to her, and from the way Levy used to tell stories about her mother and all the heroic things she did with father, she wanted to meet them even more.

"I'll go." She finally managed to say.

"Alright then." Jasper stood and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Flashing yet another heart-wrenching smile he looked at her with soft eyes. "Say your farewells and get packed. We leave at dawn."

"Why so early?" She groaned, feeling more and more of her usual insubordinate attitude warm her body.

"We can take the train if you'd like."

Alexa had to cover her mouth at the very mention of a vehicle of any kind. "Option one."

"I thought so." Jasper said with his back turned to the dragon slayer.

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**Once again, I ship it to the end... but I'm the author soooo... yeah...**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy every chapter to follow!**

**Leave a review if you have any questions or hit me up on PM!**

**Til Next Time,**

**Sky Fable**


	5. Zuma: Part 1

**Hello once again my lovely readers! Sky Fable here and back again with another installment of my FT next gen Children of the Flame! Sorry this upload took a bit longer than usual, I have a pretty serious training schedule for soccer, and I just haven't found the time to write. Thankfully, there are no summer projects for school, so physical exhaustion is the only thing holding me back. **

**Well, that's enough of me, as I'm sure you all have already come to that conclusion. So, without further ado, I present to you, the next chapter in your favorite next gen fic (Don't lie to yourself, you know it is!) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. All credit goes to Hiro Mashima and his team of mangaka! I only own the original plot and characters that appear within this story.**

* * *

_**Children of the Flame**_

_**Zuma: Part 1**_

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_The sky was blocked from sight by a thick canopy of winding branches. Zuma didn't know why, but he felt fear churn within his stomach. His heart rate quickened and his brow became damp with sweat. Taking a shaky breath, he began to make his way down a dirt path that led him deeper into the woods surrounding him._

_The only sound that met his ears was the rustling of leaves blown by the piercing wind. Zuma could see his breathe escape his lips in large puffs nearly as white as his hair. The path lazily twisted and turned and Zuma continued to walk. He couldn't explain it, but something was driving him. There was a feeling in his gut that told him to just continue walking, so he did._

_It was some time before there was any change in his surroundings. Even then, the only thing that changed was the air. The more he walked, the warmer it became, and there was something familiar about it that strangely reminded him of his father. The hair on his body began to slowly stand on end as his legs carried him further still._

_Zuma's heart was now pounding in his chest. The air was now, very obviously, thick with electricity. So thick, that he was sure his father could eat it and still reap the benefits as if it were actual lightning._

_It wasn't much longer before Zuma saw a break in the trees ahead of him. Doing as he had since he became aware of his actions, he walked towards the break. He finally stopped when the trees gave way to a large, circular clearing. He was forced to shield his eyes and let them slowly adjust to the sudden change in light. _

_He knew this clearing. It was just outside of Magnolia. The feeling in his gut overpowered the short spurt of recognition. It grew in intensity until it was almost painful. _

"_Zuma." A voice from far above the white-haired teen boomed across the sky like thunder and shook the very ground where he stood. _

_Eyes wide, he began to look around wildly or the source of the voice. He was unable to scan the sky above him as he soon realized that there was uninterrupted, brilliant white light where there should have been a sun. _

"_Zuma Dreyar." As if responding to his pained eyes, a large silhouette cast an extremely large shadow over the entire clearing. Zuma had to let his eyes once again adjust to the seemingly fluctuating brightness of his surroundings._

"_Answer me, my Lord." The voice, who he now knew was coming from the immense creature above him, was speaking to Zuma. "You are so much more than the lowly mortals you associate with nowadays."_

"_Who are you?" Zuma asked. When had he found his voice? "What are you?"_

"_I am not important, but you..." The voice answered cryptically. "You are king. Embrace what you are, Zuma. Return to your place atop the Dragon's Throne"_

"_I'm no king!"Zuma yelled. "What are you saying?" He asked feeling dizzy with confusion. _

_Laughter rattled the earth down to its core. "All will become clear once you have my lacrima." Black clouds began to swirl above the creature causing the light to dim even further. _

"_Y-You're a-" Zuma could feel fear grip his heart. As his surroundings became clear, so did the beast above him._

_Blue scales covered the majority of its heavily muscled body. Thick, white, armor-like scales protected its limbs, tail and back, beginning at the base of the beast's skull. A large, jagged horn in the shape of a lightning bolt nestled itself at the end of a short, wide snout, between two small slits that were its nostrils. From the tip of its snout,on either side of the bolt-like horn came two long horns, shaped like sabers, wicked and upturned, jutting from the back of its skull. Lining the monster's jaws and covering its shoulders was a thick layer of brown feathers that were situated almost like a vest around its broad chest. Massive, white feathered wings were armored at the base, and flowed powerfully with the increasing wind speed. Golden talons were dangerously curved and flexed threateningly as the dragon regarded him with similar, gold eyes._

"_We will meet again, my King." The dragon said, and disappeared in a large bolt of lightning. It was silent for but a moment when a giant explosion of thunder boomed across the sky and shook the very ground where he stood._

"Wait!" Zuma breathed heavily as he shot up from his bed. His body was covered by a sheen of sweat and his sheets were drenched.

_'That dream again.' _Zuma thought to himself. Though this was the first time he was able to see the dragon's body in full, he had dreamed the same thing more than a few times over the past few months. In he drowsiness of the sudden awakening some of the details escaped him, but he remembered enough to know it was a magnificent beast.

Calming his breaths and slowing his heart rate, Zuma grabbed a black shirt and jeans and jumped into his shower. The hot water pounded away the foggy details that remained in his mind. Feeling refreshed and awake, Zuma locked the door to his apartment behind him and headed in the direction of the guild hall.

Zuma pushed the doors open and was met with an unusual silence. The weather was no help to the mood either. Distant thunder rumbled every now and again, but the downpour never ceased.

"Good morning, Mother." Zuma said to the former S-Class mage.

"Well, its pleasure you've finally decided to grace the world with your presence." she said with a playfully stern smirk. "And it's a good afternoon," she emphasized, "To you as well."

Scratching the back of his head, Zuma laughed. "Sorry about that." Mira hummed in acknowledgment and handed Zuma some dishes that needed to be cleaned. He got to work scrubbing and drying, and regarded the guild hall.

After a brief look around, and finding nothing but the arguing Fullbuster twins, and Alexa heading out with Gajeel, who had taken off time from the Council to come and visit Levy and his foster daughter.

"Where's Olivia?" He asked his mother. "Huh, Simon's gone too." Zuma added with a knowing smirk. He may not have inherited magic from his parents, but with his father's build and his mother's wits, he would say he had gotten off pretty well without it.

"The storm started this morning." She said with a sigh.

"So she took a job?"

"And dragged Simon along with her. The poor thing."

Zuma laughed at his best friends probable exasperation. "Well of course she did! Who do you think is gonna make the first move?"

There was a spark in the demon's eyes now. A question having anything to do with matchmaking got her as exited as Alexa during a battle. "Well it's been so obvious for some time now."

"Yes, you're right." Zuma rubbed his chin. "But I don't think Simon's pride would let him admit something like that to himself, much less anyone else.

"Hmm..." his mother pressed a finger to her lips and took on a thoughtful expression. "And Olivia is far too stubborn for anything like love. Oops! I'm sorry," Mira suddenly began to pout, very obviously making fun of his younger sister, "I don't have time for boys."

Mother and son shared a moment of laughter, drawing the attention of many of the remaining occupants of the hall. They soon lost interest and returned to the nothing they were doing before.

Sauntering down from the second floor and straight to his usual place at the bar, Zuma's father and seventh guild master of Fairy Tail, Laxus Dreyar, sat, yawned and stretched.

"Oi." He called. His voice was gruff as he continued, "I need a beer."

"Okay, but I'm not gonna be the one to drag your drunk self home." Zuma pointed out, but grabbed a clean mug and filled it with the amber liquid.

"Don't test me, boy." He said in a low voice.

"Someone's a little grumpy." Mira said with a pout.

"These damn kids are going to be the death of me." Laxus said. "Gramps thought a bunch of good-for-nothing orphans were bad? I say ha! Those orphans' kids are millions of jewels worse than we ever were!"

"Come on, Laxus. Don't be too angry." Mira giggled and winked at the older man. "You mean to tell me that all the work I put into last night meant nothing."

A sultry expression and a light blush paired with an amused hum from his father was all Zuma needed to hear. The last thing the teen needed was to relive the night of their anniversary. Sure he was happy for them, but recently his parents have been adamant about 'rekindling the flame of youth.' Unfortunately for everyone else, that meant having ridiculous sex at every chance. Honestly, one would think they were teenagers again.

"I'm going to check on Levy." He said and left his laughing parents to their flirtatious conversations.

_'You'd think after nineteen years, they'd grow up a bit." _Zuma thought, thoroughly grossed out.

With a shake of his head, he continued on to the infirmary. With all the brawls and fights that were a regularity at Fairy Tail, one of Laxus' first actions as guild master was to expand the medical section of the guild. Now, instead of just one small room, there was an entire hallway lined with rooms that were filled with beds and medical supplies. It was agreed that, in the event of some disaster befalling the city of Magnolia, Fairy Tail could and would act as overflow for patients in need.

Zuma walked until he came to the only open door on the hall. Fairy Tail's own solid script mage was sitting upright in a bed next to the window. Her swollen belly rose and fell with each relaxed breath. She was nose deep in a thick book, and did not seem to notice when he knocked on the door.

"Levy?" He called.

She jumped, startled, and looked up from her book. "Oh, hello Zuma." She said with a sigh of relief. "I didn't notice you had come in."

"No." He agreed. "Must be a pretty interesting read." He gestured towards the now closed book on her lap.

"Oh this? I've read it a few times already. Just trying to pass the time." She placed the novel onto the small desk beside her and smiled at the teen. "To what do I owe the honor, oh noble prince?"

Zuma laughed at her exaggerated greeting. "I think you're head is still in those pages."

"Perhaps. I mean you are going to inherit the guild, so prince is a fairly accurate description." She studied him with playfully critical eyes. The two shared a laugh, and then fell into a companionable silence.

"Any trouble? Is there anything I can get you? Anything at all? Please say yes." Zuma fired the questions and the request in quick succession, extracting another fit of laughter from the bluenette.

"Are your mom and dad flirting again?" She asked with a sympathetic smile.

"It's actually disgusting. At this point, I'm pretty sure they do it just to annoy me." Zuma was no idiot when it came to intimacy among lovers, but there was something about hearing his parents talk about it that just grossed him out.

Another string of laughter escaped the two. Once calm again Levy regarded him with a kind smile. "Thank you Zuma, but Wendy should be here soon so I don't need anything right now."

"Alright then." He said and turned to leave. Calling over his shoulder, he added, "If you need anything, just yell!"

A faint 'thank you' was all he needed to hear. Still unwilling to be in the same room as his parents, he made his way out of the guild, pleased that the rain had finally stopped. The summer heat soon made the air thick and muggy. Groaning, Zuma made way for his apartment.

"Zuma!" A voice called for him while he was reaching for his keys.

"Hello Asuka, need something?" The dark haired firearms wizard ran up to him and paused to catch her breath.

Zuma waited patiently until the older girl could find her voice. "Did you hear?!" She asked excitedly.

"About?" Zuma returned with a question of his own.

"The Grand Magic Games! People have been out of their minds demanding its return, and the council finally agreed!" The light in her purple eyes was bright and filled to the brim with memories of her experience as a child.

"The guild competition to see who's the top guild in Fiore?"

"Yeah!"

"Where each guild sends their five most powerful wizards as a team to represent them?"

"Yeah!"

"The five most powerful wizards, right?"

"Yeah!"

"And all of these wizards can use magic, right?"

"YE- Oh..." The excitement died immediately as Asuka realized what Zuma had been trying to say.

"Can't say I'm too terribly interested." Zuma turned and found the key to his apartment. He unlocked the door and walked in. "Wanna come in?" He asked from within his small living room.

She entered silently and closed the door just as Zuma found the light switch. Asuka stood awkwardly in his doorway, fidgeting and looking at the ground. Her signature cowboy hat hid her eyes from view.

Zuma walked into his bedroom and retrieved his swim trunks as well as one of Asuka's many two-piece bathing suits. "Oi!" He called. She looked up slowly and her eyes widened in surprise at the bathing suit flying at her from across the room. "You left that here last time you were over."

"Oh. S-Sorry." She said and her deflated expression returned.

Sighing, Zuma walked over to the older mage. He gently removed her hat and placed it on the sofa next to him. She looked up at him questioningly, and blushed when he spread his arms. "Come here." He said.

She didn't move for a second, and Zuma was worried that she wouldn't. _'This always works...' _He thought to himself. When Zuma was about to give up, the wind was forced form his lungs and he was knocked to the ground in a death grip of a hug.

As soon as the movement had stopped, Zuma looked down at the girl who had buried her face in his chest. "Om mophy." She said into his shirt.

"What?"

"Om mophy." She repeated the muffled words.

"Asuka, I can't underst-mmph!" Zuma was cut off by the familiar softness of Asuka's lips pressed against his. His eyes widened for a moment before he eased into the kiss. His eyes fluttered closed and he felt his body relax as a soothing warmth radiated from the point of the intimate contact.

The black-haired girl pulled away, her cheeks tinted pink and her eyes apologetic. "I'm sorry." She repeated, understandably this time.

"It's okay." Zuma said with a smile. He pulled the girl into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. It was times like this that made Zuma happy. He didn't need magic or magical competitions. He just needed the love and acceptance of the people he cared most about.

"So were you planning on using these now that the sun's out?" Asuka had removed herself from atop the white-haired teen and dangled the two-piece in each of her hands.

"It was an idea. I really just want an excuse to get away from my parents for a bit." Zuma still shivered at the implications of their conversation from that morning.

"Or maybe you wanna stay here and have me model this itty-bitty bikini for you." When she had come up behind him, Zuma didn't know.

A new, much more pleasurable series of shivers raked his body, originating from his center. She flicked her warm tongue against his earlobe, and pulled away again, although not before giving the same area a sharp nip.

"Asuka..." Zuma could feel his own desire begin to pool at the pit of his stomach. He imagined returning the action just used on him, only to the entirety of the gun mage's body.

"Just kidding!" She said suddenly, shattering his fantasy before his very eyes. "C'mon slowpoke! Let's go swimming!" And with that, Asuka raced out the door towards the direction of the guild.

Groaning, Zuma followed his girlfriend and locked the door behind him.

She was waiting for him just outside of the apartment building, bouncing impatiently.

They made small talk, laughing and talking about their parents and the other members of the guild. Every now and again, Asuka would apologize for the whole Magic Games thing, and Zuma would tell her not to worry about it.

For Zuma, not being able to use magic was both a blessing and a curse. On one side, it forced him to rely on his own physical strength to complete jobs. Technically, he was a member of an official guild, so he could still take jobs, though Laxus would have to approve before he would let Zuma go, but Zuma needed money just as everyone else. On the other end of the scale, it set him apart from the other members of the guild, and severely limited the amount of jobs he could take and realistically complete. It made finding work a chore more than anything else, which is why Zuma helped out his mother at the bar whenever he could.

The walked through the doors to the guild and greeted anyone who saw them. Zuma and Asuka's relationship was no secret but people still liked to gawk at them, which made the teen somewhat uncomfortable. Sure, Asuka was five-and-a-half years older than him. So what? His father was six years older than his mother, and no one thought that was weird!

The pair separated to step into their respective changing stations. Zuma quickly changed and stepped out to find Asuka waiting for him. The bathing suit left little to the imagination, but was not indecent. Taking her hand in his, he found two towels and set them on a table shaded from the sun by an umbrella.

Asuka removed her hat and began to apply suntan lotion to any skin not covered by the bathing suit. Zuma watched and found himself unable to look away. Asuka noticed his flushed cheeks and giggled. She closed the distance between them and let her hands rest on his bare chest. She stepped forward, pressing their bodies together. Zuma stepped back, to try and gain some control of his hormones, but Asuka closed the gap yet again. Soon, he found himself trying to avoid the black-haired woman by taking step after step back and back. Suddenly Asuka shoved him hard, and Zuma found himself airborne before finally splashing into the cool water of the pool.

The teen's white hair broke the surface of the water and he came up gasping for air. Gripping the side of the pool, he allowed himself a few seconds to let the humid summer air fill his lungs before glaring at the hysterical girl completely dry on the deck. Filled with competitive spirit, Zuma hoisted himself from the water and stood, dripping on solid ground.

"You wouldn't." Asuka's laughter had stopped, but the smile she wore did not disappear.

"You can bet your ass I would." He said as a playful threat.

"First you'll have to catch me!" And Asuka darted from his reach.

Zuma chased the gun mage for sometime before he finally cornered her and slung her over his shoulder. Just as he was about to launch her body into the clear waters, his cousin, Elayna, came bursting from the guild doors.

"Zuma!" She yelled frantically.

"What is it?" He asked, noticing the fear and worry in her eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Asuka, now on her own feet, asked the takeover mage.

"It's Olivia and Simon." She said. "They're back, but they're both unconscious. I've been looking everywhere for you, Zuma. They returned with Gajeel, Alexa, and Jasper a while ago."

"Where are they?" Zuma knew the answer, but asked anyway.

"In the infirmary. Asuka and I will get your things."

He shared a fearful look with the gun mage before sprinting into the guild. At some point, he ran into Alexa, but was too busy worrying about unconscious comrades.

_'What the hell did those idiots do this time?' _Honestly, he wouldn't be as worried if it was just Olivia who was unconscious. As terrible as that sounded, it was true. The strongest wizard in the guild besides the mother he inherited such power from, was knocked out on a job, and that was absolutely terrifying.

"Olivia!" Zuma burst through the open doorway causing the sky dragon slayer to virtually leap out of her skin.

"Zuma! You absolutely terrified me!" Wendy was panting, and looked as if she had seen a ghost.

"How are they? What happened?" Zuma demanded.

"Calm down, Zuma." She said once she had somewhat recovered from the scare. Flashing him a reassuring smile, she answered his questions with a soothing tone. "Simon is simply exhausted. I examined his magical energy, and it's a bit disturbed which leads me to believe he tried a combination again. Traces of a foreign magic, I'm assuming his father's, line the usually solitary requip energy. It's irritated though. The two aren't blending properly, so he uses much more magic energy than he would be if he could perform the combination correctly."

"And Olivia." He asked somewhat thankful that exhaustion was the cause. That meant that he destroyed whatever put Olivia in her current condition, and for that he was thankful.

"She's a little worse off, but not as bad as she looks. Minor burns and a few cracked ribs should heal up within a few days with Dr. Wendy around. The contusions will take a little longer since they need to heal naturally, but won't keep her out of jobs or training should she want to. I'd say she'll be back to one-hundred percent in no more than two weeks." The bluenette punctuated her assessment with a confident smile.

"And here Elayna had me thinking that Olivia was missing an arm. I'm relieved that wasn't the case." Zuma sighed and allowed his muscles to relax for the first time since his cousin told him what happened.

"Well, she does take after Evergreen. You know how she tends to dramatize even the smallest of events." Wendy giggled and returned her attention to Olivia's stomach.

"Yeah, that's her alright." Zuma agreed. "Hey, Wendy. Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?" Wendy did not divert her gaze as she spoke.

"When Simon wakes up, tell him to crash at my place tonight."

"I'll do that."

"Thanks." With one last glance at his sister, Zuma left the room, glad she was in the hands of the best healer in all of Fiore.

The rest of the day went by without event. Alexa was packing to go on some trip with Jasper, and Gajeel was going to have to head back to the council in preparation for the Grand Magic Games. That had sparked excitement back into the guild, and soon members were brawling and betting on who would get picked, and who was strongest, and the last games, and other such things. Zuma left before the guild got too crazy, telling his mother he wasn't feeling well. She saw right through his lie, but let him go home anyway. Asuka accompanied him to his door and pecked him quick on the lips before retiring to her own place. She had asked to stay the night but, with more effort than Zuma thought he had, he told her that he was going to house Simon for a while and discuss their upcoming S-Class mission.

The teen was dozing off on the couch when a knock at the door came some time after Asuka left.

"So, I'm crashing here tonight?" Simon was still obviously tired from whatever strain he put on his body, but he looked better than he had when he was in the infirmary.

"Is that okay with you? I didn't think I smelled that bad." Zuma began to sniff his clothes and his armpits. When he looked back at Simon, the requip mage was... less than amused.

"Are you going to let me in or not?"

"Okay, okay!" Zuma backed away and let him in. "Someone is awfully grumpy."

"He could have killed her, Zuma." In Simon's eyes, Zuma saw an emotion that the redhead never showed to anyone but him. Fear.

"Come on Scarlet. You would never let that happen." Zuma patted his best friend on the back and led him to a large couch.

The two teens plopped down tiredly and sat in silence.

"He came so close. And I didn't even kill him."

"What are you talking about? You're sitting here and Olivia will be fine in a couple weeks." Zuma cared very much for the well being of his friends and sister, but right now he could tell that Simon's pride needed a little pick-me-up.

"Apparently not. The dragnites aren't restricted to fire dragon slayer magic."

"What? You fought a dragnite?" This was news. Everyone knew that the dragnites were a plague. They were a nuisance to deal with because they were so powerful, and they rose to power quite easily in a short amount of time. They soon became guild masters of dark guilds or rogue mages leaving burning paths of destruction in their wake. They were wicked creatures. Spawn of the demon E.N.D., but they're numbers seemed to be decreasing.

"The job description was on the regular job board, and nowhere did it mention a dragnite."

"Dragnites are comparable in strength to wizard saints. Every job asking for the elimination of even one is immediately posted to the S-Class job board." Zuma was furious. Whoever issued such a vague report was going to feel the wrath of an older brother defending his sister.

"They didn't even mention the name of the dark guild." Simon's eyes now held the same anger that was in Zuma's voice. "If they had mentioned Phoenix Rising, it would have gone straight to S-Class."

"Well it's done now, right?" Zuma could not explain his rage. Never before had he felt an anger even close to this, but the deed was done and the demon was dead, so there really wasn't any point to his anger.

"Thanks to Fullbuster. Like I said earlier, the dragnites aren't restricted to just fire dragon slayer magic. This one used the lost Phoenix magic." Simon explained with a serious look.

"Phoenix magic?" Zuma didn't think there was magic he hadn't heard of, but anything was possible.

"Grants the user total control over fire, and immortality. With each death not caused by decapitation, the user is reborn from his own ashes, and his immortal life begins once again."

"Such a magic exists?"

"Apparently so." Simon nodded slowly. "Lucky for us, his magic power also reset, and Fullbuster got to him while he was trying to find us and attack from behind. He's dead now."

"That's terrifying news. Have you told the master yet?"

"Never really had the chance." The redhead said. "I came straight here when I came to."

"Well, now that we're on the topic of S-Class missions, we have to talk to Olivia about ours. She won't be ready by the time the jobs switch and it's sent to another guild." Zuma, while skeptical at first about attending the two mages on their S-Class mission became more and more excited about it the closer it got.

"You're right..." Simon thought for a moment. "Well, you can hold your own in a fight." He said matter-of-factly. "And I'll cover your ass, so I don't see any reason we should postpone it. Olivia will be upset, but we can still split the reward."

"So the mission is a go?" Zuma asked, a large smile spread wide across his face.

"We leave on schedule, in three days time." Simon allowed a smirk of his own and held out his hand to the white-haired teen.

Clasping it with his own so it made a loud clap, Zuma looked into Simon's brown eyes with his own orange ones. "Let's do this!"

* * *

**Wow, that was a long one! **

**I'm going to try the best I can to keep the chapters around this length from now on, so expect this to be the norm. Personally I love Zuma as a character and I can't wait to share all of the wonderful plans I have in store for him *snickers evilly* **

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed enough to hit that favorite, smash that follow, and leave a review on what you think! **

**Til Next Time, **

**Sky Fable**


	6. Levi: Part 1

**What is up my wonderful readers?! Really sorry for the disappearance, but school and soccer have really been eating up almost all of my time.**

**Many of you will not care for these silly excuses, but I'm just stating the facts. **

**Any way, here I am, picking up my very own Fairy Tail next gen fic. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. All credit goes to Hiro Mashima. I only own my ideas and original characters portrayed in this story.**

* * *

**_Children of the Flame_**

**Levi: Part 1**

* * *

Levi Vastia was less than pleased with his current situation. He had been tailing his most recent assignment for days now, waiting oh so patiently for an opportunity to present itself, but one never came. The landlord, Cornelius Dunlap, surrounded himself with people in public and guards in private, which made it extremely difficult to catch the man, and dispose of him without being seen.

On top of his restlessness came the rain. It was hard and strong and it just kept coming. Annoying as it was, Levi had to be thankful to an extent, as the massive amounts of rain and whipping winds washed away his scent.

For whatever reason, Dunlap had decided to take a stroll alone today. Levi would not let this opportunity pass him up. He waited for the landlord to get a good distance from town before descending from the branches and landing with a silent thud. The fat man in front of him seemed oblivious, and kept strolling as if he didn't have a care in the world.

_'A trap?' _Levi asked himself. _'To lure me out perhaps.'_

Levi was many things and suspicious was most certainly one of them. He crept along the path, just within a line of trees slightly off of the dirt road. He made sure to quicken his pace so he could deal a swift, killing blow if need be.

A snapping twig caused him to halt his movement. He glanced down to see if it was he who created the disturbance, but wet leaves were all that were under his feet.

_'Competition?' _Acting without hesitation, Levi quickly gathered a small amount of magical energy. Pressing his fist to his palm, he visualized the desired structure.

"Ice-Make: Dome!" His voice startled the fat man, who hadn't heard the snapped twig over the roar of the falling droplets pounding his umbrella.

A shell of ice sprang from the ground above the man. Arrows, most likely aimed for the landlord bounced off of the thick, frozen wall. Levi was ready for the mystery assassin to confront him, but it did not. Focusing now on the short dome and the screams of help from the inside.

"Help! Someone help me! Anyone! Please!" His desperate cries were starting to annoy Levi, but he humored the man.

"Cornelius Dunlap, yes?" He asked with a cool, calm voice.

"What? Yes, yes! That's me! Has someone come looking for me? Are you here to help me?"

Levi laughed hard. "Oh my dear landlord, quite the opposite, actually. You know, there are a surprising amount of people who want you dead. One in particular has put a handsome bounty on your head, and I intend to take it."

Dunlap was silent for some time. Levi listened for any indication of giving up or acceptance. It came in the form of blubbering sobs.

"P-P-Please don't kill me. I have a wife a-a-and kids."

"No you don't. My employer knows a lot about you and filled me in on everything, so nice try, but I'm gonna have to call bullshit." Levi paused and listened. Sobbing became hysterical crying.

Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Levi called upon the magic taught to him by his aunt, Chelia. He placed his hands on the light blue ice dome and imbued it with a different magic. The dome slowly became black, the color spreading from his hands.

"Wha- What are you doing? No! Please! I beg of you, show mercy!"

"Sorry pal." he lied. "Just doing my job." When the whole dome was dark and menacing, the landlord's cries had grown to be more than he could tolerate, assaulting his eardrums.

"Ice God's Iron Maiden." The sickening sound of his black blades of ice impaling the target within made him cringe. There were small cracks in the ice where the arrows had struck it. From these cracks, blood trickled down like a river of death, emphasized against the black of his ice. It was there for but a moment before the pouring rain washed it away.

With a disgusted scowl, he turned and went to report his mission's success to the client. The rain had let up a few minutes into his walk, and for that he was thankful. He walked through town without fear. He had avoided detection for so long, many people probably thought he was just a bypassing traveler. No one paid him extra attention, and he remained inconspicuous. He came to the inn where he had originally accepted the job. The room his client was staying in was on the second floor, away from any other occupied rooms.

He knocked on the door and waited for a sign.

"Enter." Came a deep voice from within.

His hands shook as he reached for the knob and turned it slowly. He pushed the door open, and walked into the dark room. His client was silhouetted against the light of the city entering through the window. The man was massive. Levi was pretty tall by anyone's standards, but this guy was outright inhuman. Levi chuckled to himself at the accuracy of his description.

"So it's done?" His voice was menacing, and that was an understatement.

"Y-Yes sir." The shaking that Levi's hand had experienced now spread to the rest of his body.

"Hmph." The grunt meant that he was satisfied. Not pleased, but satisfied meant that Levi would be leaving the room with all of his limbs attached. The demon, Caldero Dragneel, was very hard to please.

Levi flinched at the sound of rattling armor. He stood straight and forced the tremors that were raking his body to halt.

"Was there any trouble? It took you some time to complete." Caldero's armor clinked and clunked with every step, stopping with his movement, just before the ice mage.

Levi swallowed, but did not meet the dark guild master's gaze. "There was another assassin on the job. He tried to kill Dunlap with an arrow, but failed. He disappeared before I could deal with him." The teen was proud of himself for not stuttering.

"Yes, my scouts' reports match your own. They also say you played your part fairly well. You actually made it hard for them to believe you're an official mage." The volcano mage reached into his armor and pulled out a small purse full of coin. "Your reward, as promised for a thorough completion."

"Thank you, master." Levi accepted the purse and awaited his dismissal.

The large man scoffed, causing Levi to flinch. "You have no right to call me your master." Suddenly, a black gauntlet was gripping Levi's throat. What little breath he had in his lungs was forced out when the demon slammed him into the wall, shaking the whole building. Levi would have been impressed with the sturdy woodwork had he not been fearing for his life.

"You listen to me, boy. You are nothing. Do you understand? Nothing! You are but a tool, an instrument to rid me of my nuisances. The only reason you're still alive is because of your power. I have not forgotten what you and your filthy guild did to my brothers and sisters, so don't be surprised when I blow your entrails halfway to the Pergrande Kingdom!" Caldero threw him aside as if he were a used tissue, and probably used the same amount of power doing it.

A coughing fit rendered Levi a hacking mess on the hardwood floor. Oxygen rushed into his lungs and eased his burning chest. As soon as the teen regained his breath, and was able to push himself to his hands and knees, Caldero spoke again. "You are useful to me, Levi Vastia. Too useful for me to kill you right now, but never think that I will accept you as a member of my guild."

"I'm s-s-sorry..." Levi spoke between weak coughs.

"As for your guild... consider yourself lucky. You completed the mission flawlessly, and I am a man of my word. I, nor my men will move against them. You are dismissed until next I require your services." And with that, in a cloud of fire and sulfur, Caldero Dragneel disappeared with the room.

Levi rubbed his neck where it had very nearly been crushed by the Dragnite moments earlier. He found that it hurt to swallow, so the lump in his throat wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. The ice mage trudged out of the inn, reward in hand, and made his way for the train station in town.

The official job he had taken to cover up his meeting with the leader of the dark guild Novarupta was easy enough. He was to provide decorations, made entirely of ice, for a wedding. The lucky couple was not in a position of power, but it was the husband-to-be's gift to his bride. He boarded a train to Lamia Scale and sat in an empty booth. At some point sleep had dragged him into its inviting embrace, and a passerby who recognized the guild mark on his neck had to prod him awake.

"Hey, Lamia wizard. If Margaret Town is your stop, you better get off." His voice was friendly and companionable.

"Hmm." Levi yawned sleepily and glanced out the window. The familiar streets of his hometown jarred him out of his daze. He shot a quick thanks to the man as he rushed past him.

The station was bustling with businessmen, shopkeepers, and townspeople alike. The amount of people was immense. Thankfully though, most of them were merely passing through to board a connecting train to Crocus.

Levi's head whipped around wildly. Looking for one person in a swarm of people was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Thankfully, the needle he was looking for was topped with a brilliant pink. Regretfully, the haystack he was searching in never stopped moving.

Another aid to his cause, however, was that his needle was also looking for him, effectively doubling their chances of contact.

"Levi! Levi over here!" Her voice called to him from just beyond the massive crowd. It didn't take the ice mage long to spot the source of the voice and the object of his interest.

He felt his chest swell with relief at seeing his best friend alive and well. He pushed through the crowd despite the various protests and nasty jabs. They fell on deaf ears.

"Aran..." He reached the pink haired air mage within minutes. She wore a large smile and waved her hands until Levi cleared the sea of bodies.

"Hey there, ice cube!" She greeted, trying to get under his skin. He dropped his bag, and she continued talking, seeming to have missed the urgency in his movements. "How was the- uhh..."

He wrapped her in his arms and held her as if she would disappear if he let go. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and breathed in her scent. She smelled fresh, like an ocean breeze, and Levi loved it. Cherished it. It blew away all of his doubts and worries.

"Umm... Good to see you too? You okay there, brain freeze?" Confusion laced her voice and he was sure she wore an expression to match.

"I am now." Levi said. Though it was muffled by her her long, magenta hair, she heard him and slowly, tentatively returned his embrace.

His whole body tensed when he felt a gentle hand comb through his silver hair, but relaxed only seconds later. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Levi would have been perfectly content if that were the case. To just stay there in her arms with her hand gently sifting through his wavy silver locks, not worrying about Novarupta, or Caldero, or the life of the very girl he held. He just wanted to forget it all and go back to the way things were before the dragnites. Before his entire life went spiraling out of control.

"Did someone not appreciate your craftsmanship?" She asked, pushing his shoulders so he was standing up. "Ice make magic is very hard. They should learn to be more lenient, even if it is a wedding!"

Reluctantly, he relinquished his hold on the girl and looked at her. He was now much calmer and offered her a genuine smile. "The job went without incident." Scratching the back of his head, he added, "I guess I was just a little homesick."

Aran laughed at that, and he joined her. "A little homesick? You pretty much tackled me!"

"S- Sorry about that." Heat rushed to his cheeks at the realization that, prior to that day, he had never touched the air mage so intimately. Even if it was viewed as trivial to outsiders, that was the first time they had consciously held one another. There were times during missions when one would be magically or physically exhausted, in which case the other would offer an arm, but Levi didn't think that counted at all. He would do it for anyone.

"Don't worry about it, frosty." She turned and beckoned him to follow. Levi retrieved his things and started after her before almost running her over.

"Something wrong?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I-It wasn't that bad." She said suddenly. Her cheeks were beginning to match her hair.

"What do you-"

"I wouldn't m-m-mind if we did it ag-gain." Her whole face was as red as a tomato.

The ice mage found himself at a complete loss. He had absolutely no idea what the girl was talking about, but as soon as he put the pieces together, a strong blush donned his features as well.

"Umm. Y-Yeah. It was n-n-nice." Levi's head was spinning. Aran Akatsuki was giving him permission to hug her again. If this day was bad before, hugging her made it bearable, and that confession made it worth being Caldero's rag doll for a few minutes.

"Levi." Aran's voice sounded strained, like she was trying to force out every word.

"Yeah?" Thankfully, his blush had died down so it wasn't as noticeable, but he could still feel the heat at his cheeks.

"Race you to the guild!" The pink-haired mage summoned her magic and rose herself into the air.

"What?" Levi's head was still in a fog. He shook it to clear his thoughts and processed what was happening around him. "Oh you're on pinky!"

"Well look at that, snowman's back!" The flying girl started to dart away, but Levi was quick. In the blink of an eye, he trapped Aran in a block of ice, sending her crashing to the ground. The ice shattered when it landed, but the pink-haired female was unharmed.

"No head starts you cheater." Levi said and equipped his boots with blades of ice. His makeshift skates froze the ground wherever they touched, allowing Levi to focus on the race rather than worry about the terrain.

Feeling a little devlish, Levi created an ice clone of himself. He darted off at a blinding speed, far ahead of Aran, and made the clone go much slower. He reached the main doors of the guild within minutes. Terminating his magic, he leaned against the pedestal that held the giant Lamia Scale statue and awaited his aerial partner.

"Haha! Still made it first! Boy am I good or what?!" Aran had her back to the guild and continued to taunt the treeline while Levi walked up behind her.

"I've seen better." He said plainly.

"Wh-Wh- How did you-? But I passed you!"

As if on cue, Levi's ice clone exited the trees. With a snap of his fingers, the frozen Levi melted into a puddle of water.

"You're an ass." Aran crossed her arms and glared daggers at him.

For the first time all week, Levi laughed. His eagerness to be home only fueled his happiness.

"Oh, come on! It was genius, and the look on your face was absolutely priceless!" Levi laughed harder and harder until an annoyed Aran walked into the hall without him. "Hey wait!" He called.

The teen pushed through the large doors and scanned the interior, returning greetings that were given to him. Aran was nowhere to be found. He met Jura's eyes and waved. The saint nodded and pointed to the doors leading out back. Levi mouthed a thank you, and received a wink from the elder mage in return.

"Levi!" A cool voice called just as he reached the doors that would lead him to the air mage.

The teen turned and embraced his father who held outstretched arms in greeting. "Hello father." He greeted with a smile.

"I was starting to get worried. That mission took you some time to complete." Lyon looked him over for injuries. He always worried over the smallest things with him, even though he said nothing that would elude towards it, his actions made it obvious.

Levi flinched at hearing the exact words used by a certain pink-haired demon. "Uhh, sorry dad. The rain kept me in town longer than expected." A ghost of truth was in Levi's answer. He hated lying, especially to his father, and he had to keep telling himself that it was for their own safety.

"Well, are you tired from your trip? Aran came running through a few minutes ago, and I assume you'd like to find her. Am I right?" A light punch and a wink caused Levi's face to heat instantly.

"What are you trying to say?!" The teen cursed his beating heart, and his scowl deepened at his father's laughter.

"Ah, to be young again." He said.

"Whatever." Levi crossed his arms and started to walk away from his annoying father.

"Oh, Levi!" When the younger ice mage stopped, Lyon continued. "If, perhaps, I've caused you any irritation or annoyance, I might suggest taking it out on me."

"What do you mean?" Levi raised a questioning brow.

"I mean, instead of storming off to pout about your stupid father, why don't you try and beat some sense into him." A bluish-green aura of cold energy began to swirl around Lamia Scale's guild master.

"With pleasure, old man!" Engulfing himself in his own light blue aura, Levi launched himself at the older ice mage. "Ice Make: Knight of the Ice God!" Levi's body became covered in a jagged, razor-sharp suit of armor. The ice it was made from was black and the aura he had previously conjured had also taken a nightmarish hue of black and blue.

"Ice Make: Dragon!" The guild master created an extremely powerful serpentine dragon made entirely of, you guessed it, ice and loosed it upon his only child.

Levi did not stop in his advance. Smashing his fist to his palm, he chanted the words to his spell. "Ice Make: Godsword!" In his fist appeared a long hilt. Keeping his palm open, he pulled a large, black blade from it. The sword itself was almost six feet long, and by the time he finished creating it, Levi had just enough time to block the first of many attacks by his father's cold dragon.

"Are you going to fight me, or just keep making more toys?" Lyon stood at the entrance to the guild, large closed doors behind him. His arms were crossed and he already wore a bored expression.

Levi smirked under his icy helmet. Through the clear, black-tinted ice, his vision was different. He could no longer see color, but rather he could see sources of magic. Inanimate objects were outlined, but darkened by the helmet, while sources of magic power glowed bright. The color and intensity was dependent on both the type of magic and the individual's magic power. His father was the second brightest he had seen in this form and glowed a greenish-blue, the same as the aura that could be seen with the naked eye, while Jura Neekis was the brightest and glowed a light brown.

The ice dragon rushed again, but Levi was ready this time. He twirled the massive sword and stabbed the beast before it had time to evade. Instead of disintegrating like ice make creations usually did when they were destroyed, the dragon reverted into pure magical energy and infused itself into the blade, which then traveled into the hilt where it enhanced Levi's own power. God slaying magic was wonderful.

"That's a cool trick." Lyon's eyes were wide, but not surprised. He calmly returned his gaze to his son.

"Oh no." Levi said. Lyon raised an eyebrow when the teen let both his armor and sword dissolve into the air. "The cool part is what I can do once I'm full."

"Levi." Lyon said warningly.

The teen merely smirked. "Combination." Assuming a pose similar to his father's spell, Iced Shell, there was an explosion of cold energy around Levi. The ground at his feet began to freeze and any guild member within fifty feet of his was sent flying. "Ice Make Secret Art-"

"Master Lyon! Urgent report from Fairy Tail!"

Levi was too far in to stop, he launched the spell only to have it suppressed by one of Jura's walls of earth. Only this time it was an orb with Levi at its pitch-black center.

"What the hell?" Levi was surrounded by darkness. The circular cavity he was in was now covered in his black ice, which made for less space than there already was, and there wasn't a lot.

Levi sat in darkness for several minutes. He had already dissolved his ice magic when Jura released him from his earthen cell.

"What were you thinking?" The elderly wizard saint asked him sternly.

"I guess I got a little carried away." Levi crossed his arms and did not look the man in the eye. If there was anyone who intimidated him, it was Jura Neekis. Levi had experienced first hand what a wizard saint could do, and Jura was the best of the best at Lamia Scale. Even in his old age, he could easily defeat his father, or anyone else in the guild for that matter. Levi once asked his father why Jura wasn't master, and the answer was simple: he didn't want to be a guild master. Easy as that. Said there was too much paperwork, and Lyon could vouch for that

"'Carried away' is an understatement! Combination spells are strictly forbidden unless in the presence of a powerful enemy." Jura's stern look only deepened. "You know that, don't you?"

"Y-Yes, Jura, it won't happen again." After bowing and receiving a nod of dismissal, Levi turned and walked towards his father and Lance, who was the one who interrupted their fight.

"We'll leave for Sabertooth then." Levi assumed that he caught the tail end of the conversation, because as soon as he stood next to his father, Lance walked away.

"You planned that didn't you?"

"No, but it's a good thing we had Jura around to keep that spell contained." His father glared at him. His mother's eyes, which had saved him from countless lectures in the past, would not save him this time, so Levi merely looked away.

"The old man already scolded me, please don't make me go through that twice." Levi groaned, not really expecting his plea to work, but giving it a shot anyway.

Lyon sighed. "So you've been working on it?"

"What?" Levi asked.

"The combination. You've been working on it, yes?"

"Umm yeah. Yeah I have." Levi said, unsure why he seemed to be less talkative than usual.

"And?" Lyon seemed genuinely interested.

"Uhh, I guess it's alright. It's still not perfect because I just can't get the God Slaying magic to blend properly." That was something Levi didn't understand. He'd learned both ice make and god slaying magic since he was very young. When his magic was first awakened, Lyon had been the one to train him. Then, the previous guild master, Ooba Babasaama, passed away when he was twelve years old. Lyon was named successor after Jura turned the position down, and he no longer had time to train young Levi. Seeing how this affected him, his aunt, Chelia Blendy (who wasn't really his aunt, but she was Lyon's closest friend in the guild so that's just what he called her growing up) took it upon herself to continue Levi's training. Having no experience with maker magic of any kind, much less ice make magic, she tried to teach the silver-haired kid god slaying magic. Needless to say, that came less natural to Levi. It took him almost five years to master the basics, but everything after that came as easy as breathing. One would think that god slaying was his primary magic, but there was still the issue with his combination.

His father had explained it to him when the first combination spell was used by the child of Titania Erza, Simon Scarlet. Combination spells belong to a newly formed branch of magic called Neo Magic. They came about after the defeat of the demon E.N.D. When two powerful mages, masters of their respective magic, produce a child, many things can come about. One outcome would be for the child to possess a magic identical to one of the parents. Another result, and surprisingly the most common, is the adoption of one primary type and the ability to house a secondary magic. This means that the child will be able to use at will one of the types of magic received from either parent, however, in the event that the other parent's magic was also passed down, it can be used on rare occasions in tandem with the child's primary magic to create a super powerful combination spell. His father explained it to him as a type of unison raid, only it can be produced by a single person. The third, and final outcome is also the rarest and least likely to happen. If the parents' magic types are similar, or even identical, in element and complimentary in nature there is a chance that the child will be born with immense magical power, and the potential to become an arch mage. An arch mage is an elemental wizard that has complete and utter control over all aspects of his or her element. They have the capacity to house within them multiple magic types so long as their element can be implemented in any way.

Levi scrunched up his nose at the thought of one particular arch mage. _'Jasper.' _He thought in disgust.

"Hm. Strange." Lyon said thoughtfully, breaking the teen from his thoughts.

Levi blinked, zoned out from having to return to normal conversation after his recent trip down memory lane. "Yeah, it's weird." He agreed distantly.

"Well, enough of that for now. We'll have plenty of time to talk on the train."

"What? Why? Where are we going?" Levi asked in exasperation. He had just returned from taking the life of another human. While no one knew that, Levi felt that he needed at least a days rest before going out again.

"Sabertooth just received a mission requesting the assassination of a dragnite. All of their S-Class wizards are out on prior commitments, and Avatar turned down the request due to pressing matters, and since we're the next closest guild, they've asked for our help." Lyon walked away and into his office.

Levi followed feeling his forehead break out in a sweat. _'This is bad. Caldero is mad enough at the number of dragnites killed already.' _When they first appeared, no one thought the dragnites could be defeated. Their flame magic was immense in variety and power, and each of them had a wit that could turn them even deadlier in the most unlikely of situations. Fairy Tail's Erza Scarlet had been the one to put everyone's doubts to rest. She slayed twelve of the monsters, and after that, the rest of them went into hiding for some time. Caldero Dragneel, the most powerful dragnite of them all, found Levi while he was on a solo mission at Mt. Hakabe. Levi struck as soon as he recognized the pink hair, but found himself broken and burned within seconds. Caldero must have seen something in those short moments, because he decided not to kill Levi or leave him to die on the blizzard whipped mountain. Instead, he took him in and threatened him with the destruction of Lamia Scale should he turn down his offer or disobey him in the future. The demon forced him to become his own personal assassin, killing councilmen, landlords, and countless other people of relative to extreme importance. His first kill seemed like yesterday, when in reality, it had been three years ago.

"Jura's prepared a bag for you. Are you ready to go?" Levi flinched out of his thoughts and looked at his father, who stood before him. They were just about the same height, with Lyon being roughly an inch taller.

"What?" Levi questioned as he attempted to reassemble his thoughts. His father handed him a duffel bag. "Oh, right. Yeah I'm ready."

"Are you okay, son? You seem out of it for whatever reason." Lyon regarded him with a worried look. Almost instantly it became one of understanding lined with a hint of perversion. "You can go find Aran before we go. I know I took you away from her when you two got back." Before the flustered teen had a chance to refute, the ice wizard walked out of the large doors and stood at the front of the guild.

Levi started towards the doors Jura had motioned to earlier to find that the magenta-haired air mage was already there. "Hey there, ice-for-brains, nice job almost freezing the whole guild."

Levi groaned. "I get it, okay? Bad call on my part. Just got really into it for some reason."

Aran laughed and so did the male teen. The pair fell into a companionable silence, and walked out to the courtyard behind the guild. They found a bench looking out over the grassy plains and rolling hills just outside of town, and sat together. Levi didn't need to speak, nor did he particularly want Aran to. Not now, not in this moment. Unfortunately, the magenta-haired air mage had other plans.

"So you're heading out now?" Aran's regarded him with eyes filled with disappointment. After all, her only team mate did just return to the guild from a prolonged mission.

"Yeah." Levi said simply, unable to find the right words to say.

"I overheard Lance and your dad. It sounds pretty serious." Did she move closer to him? Levi couldn't tell out of the corner of his eye.

"It appears so." The teen loosed a large sigh, not ready for yet another mission, much less another dragnite.

"Do you know when you'll be back?"

"It shouldn't take too long. Its just one mission and, even if it's a dragnite, Sabertooth and Lamia Scale is giving the damn thing too much credit."

"But it could take a while?"

"It might." Levi confirmed and turned to face the female in their seated position on the bench. "Why are you asking so many questions? I'll be back even-tmph"

Levi's eyes widened until they were as big as saucers. Pressed against his lips were the lips of his best friend.

It was quick, and when Aran pulled away she had the brightest smile on her face and the deepest blush staining her cheeks.

"In case I don't see you for a while." She said, still smiling. "Just a little something to remember me by." She turned and walked into the guild, leaving a silver-haired teen to reach a shaking hand to his tingling lips and see if they were as hot as they felt.

Levi vaguely remembered getting up and returning to his father's side as they left the guild hall and headed in the direction of the train station. His head was still spinning and his thoughts were in a haze. Aran had just kissed him. The thought alone was enough to send him crashing to the ground in an unconscious heap.

The teen suddenly found himself eager to get this whole thing over with.

* * *

**Well that's it for this chapter, I hope you liked it, and please rate and review!**

**Til next time,**

**Sky Fable**


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